Proverbs 6:20–7:27

Warning Against Adultery

20 My son,j keep your father’s command

and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.k

21 Bind them always on your heart;

fasten them around your neck.l

22 When you walk, they will guide you;

when you sleep, they will watch over you;

when you awake, they will speak to you.

23 For this command is a lamp,

this teaching is a light,m

and correction and instruction

are the way to life,n

24 keeping you from your neighbor’s wife,

from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.o

25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty

or let her captivate you with her eyes.

26 For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,

but another man’s wife preys on your very life.p

27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap

without his clothes being burned?

28 Can a man walk on hot coals

without his feet being scorched?

29 So is he who sleepsq with another man’s wife;r

no one who touches her will go unpunished.

30 People do not despise a thief if he steals

to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.

31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,s

though it costs him all the wealth of his house.

32 But a man who commits adulteryt has no sense;u

whoever does so destroys himself.

33 Blows and disgrace are his lot,

and his shame will neverv be wiped away.

34 For jealousyw arouses a husband’s fury,x

and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.

35 He will not accept any compensation;

he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.y

Warning Against the Adulterous Woman

7 My son,z keep my words

and store up my commands within you.

2 Keep my commands and you will live;a

guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.

3 Bind them on your fingers;

write them on the tablet of your heart.b

4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

and to insight, “You are my relative.”

5 They will keep you from the adulterous woman,

from the wayward woman with her seductive words.c

6 At the window of my house

I looked down through the lattice.

7 I saw among the simple,

I noticed among the young men,

a youth who had no sense.d

8 He was going down the street near her corner,

walking along in the direction of her house

9 at twilight,e as the day was fading,

as the dark of night set in.

10 Then out came a woman to meet him,

dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.

11 (She is unrulyf and defiant,

her feet never stay at home;

12 now in the street, now in the squares,

at every corner she lurks.)g

13 She took hold of himh and kissed him

and with a brazen face she said:i

14 “Today I fulfilled my vows,

and I have food from my fellowship offeringj at home.

15 So I came out to meet you;

I looked for you and have found you!

16 I have covered my bed

with colored linens from Egypt.

17 I have perfumed my bedk

with myrrh,l aloes and cinnamon.

18 Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;

let’s enjoy ourselves with love!m

19 My husband is not at home;

he has gone on a long journey.

20 He took his purse filled with money

and will not be home till full moon.”

21 With persuasive words she led him astray;

she seduced him with her smooth talk.n

22 All at once he followed her

like an ox going to the slaughter,

like a deera stepping into a nooseb o

23 till an arrow piercesp his liver,

like a bird darting into a snare,

little knowing it will cost him his life.q

24 Now then, my sons, listenr to me;

pay attention to what I say.

25 Do not let your heart turn to her ways

or stray into her paths.s

26 Many are the victims she has brought down;

her slain are a mighty throng.

27 Her house is a highway to the grave,

leading down to the chambers of death.t