Proverbs 5-7

New International Version

Warning Against Adultery

5 My son,^(A) pay attention to my wisdom,
    turn your ear to my words^(B) of insight,
²that you may maintain discretion
    and your lips may preserve knowledge.
³For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
    and her speech is smoother than oil;^(C)
⁴but in the end she is bitter as gall,^(D)
    sharp as a double-edged sword.
⁵Her feet go down to death;
    her steps lead straight to the grave.^(E)
⁶She gives no thought to the way of life;
    her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.^(F)

⁷Now then, my sons, listen^(G) to me;
    do not turn aside from what I say.
⁸Keep to a path far from her,^(H)
    do not go near the door of her house,
⁹lest you lose your honor to others
    and your dignity^[a] to one who is cruel,
¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth
    and your toil enrich the house of another.^(I)
¹¹At the end of your life you will groan,
    when your flesh and body are spent.
¹²You will say, “How I hated discipline!
    How my heart spurned correction!^(J)
¹³I would not obey my teachers
    or turn my ear to my instructors.
¹⁴And I was soon in serious trouble^(K)
    in the assembly of God’s people.”^(L)

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern,
    running water from your own well.
¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets,
    your streams of water in the public squares?
¹⁷Let them be yours alone,
    never to be shared with strangers.
¹⁸May your fountain^(M) be blessed,
    and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.^(N)
¹⁹A loving doe, a graceful deer^(O)—
    may her breasts satisfy you always,
    may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
²⁰Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
    Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

²¹For your ways are in full view^(P) of the Lord,
    and he examines^(Q) all your paths.^(R)
²²The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;^(S)
    the cords of their sins hold them fast.^(T)
²³For lack of discipline they will die,^(U)
    led astray by their own great folly.^(V)

Warnings Against Folly

6 My son,^(W) if you have put up security^(X) for your neighbor,^(Y)
    if you have shaken hands in pledge^(Z) for a stranger,
²you have been trapped by what you said,
    ensnared by the words of your mouth.
³So do this, my son, to free yourself,
    since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—^[b]
    and give your neighbor no rest!
⁴Allow no sleep to your eyes,
    no slumber to your eyelids.^(AA)
⁵Free yourself, like a gazelle^(AB) from the hand of the hunter,^(AC)
    like a bird from the snare of the fowler.^(AD)

⁶Go to the ant, you sluggard;^(AE)
    consider its ways and be wise!
⁷It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
⁸yet it stores its provisions in summer^(AF)
    and gathers its food at harvest.^(AG)

⁹How long will you lie there, you sluggard?^(AH)
    When will you get up from your sleep?
¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest^(AI)—
¹¹and poverty^(AJ) will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.

¹²A troublemaker and a villain,
    who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
¹³    who winks maliciously with his eye,^(AK)
    signals with his feet
    and motions with his fingers,^(AL)
¹⁴    who plots evil^(AM) with deceit in his heart—
    he always stirs up conflict.^(AN)
¹⁵Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;^(AO)
    he will suddenly^(AP) be destroyed—without remedy.^(AQ)

¹⁶There are six things the Lord hates,^(AR)
    seven that are detestable to him:
¹⁷        haughty eyes,^(AS)
        a lying tongue,^(AT)
        hands that shed innocent blood,^(AU)
¹⁸        a heart that devises wicked schemes,
        feet that are quick to rush into evil,^(AV)
¹⁹        a false witness^(AW) who pours out lies^(AX)
        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.^(AY)

Warning Against Adultery

²⁰My son,^(AZ) keep your father’s command
    and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.^(BA)
²¹Bind them always on your heart;
    fasten them around your neck.^(BB)
²²When you walk, they will guide you;
    when you sleep, they will watch over you;
    when you awake, they will speak to you.
²³For this command is a lamp,
    this teaching is a light,^(BC)
and correction and instruction
    are the way to life,^(BD)
²⁴keeping you from your neighbor’s wife,
    from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.^(BE)

²⁵Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes.

²⁶For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
    but another man’s wife preys on your very life.^(BF)
²⁷Can a man scoop fire into his lap
    without his clothes being burned?
²⁸Can a man walk on hot coals
    without his feet being scorched?
²⁹So is he who sleeps^(BG) with another man’s wife;^(BH)
    no one who touches her will go unpunished.

³⁰People do not despise a thief if he steals
    to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
³¹Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,^(BI)
    though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
³²But a man who commits adultery^(BJ) has no sense;^(BK)
    whoever does so destroys himself.
³³Blows and disgrace are his lot,
    and his shame will never^(BL) be wiped away.

³⁴For jealousy^(BM) arouses a husband’s fury,^(BN)
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
³⁵He will not accept any compensation;
he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.^(BO)

Warning Against the Adulterous Woman

7 My son,^(BP) keep my words
    and store up my commands within you.
²Keep my commands and you will live;^(BQ)
    guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
³Bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.^(BR)
⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and to insight, “You are my relative.”
⁵They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words.^(BS)

⁶At the window of my house
    I looked down through the lattice.
⁷I saw among the simple,
    I noticed among the young men,
    a youth who had no sense.^(BT)
⁸He was going down the street near her corner,
    walking along in the direction of her house
⁹at twilight,^(BU) as the day was fading,
    as the dark of night set in.

¹⁰Then out came a woman to meet him,
    dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
¹¹(She is unruly^(BV) and defiant,
    her feet never stay at home;
¹²now in the street, now in the squares,
    at every corner she lurks.)^(BW)
¹³She took hold of him^(BX) and kissed him
    and with a brazen face she said:^(BY)

¹⁴“Today I fulfilled my vows,
    and I have food from my fellowship offering^(BZ) at home.
¹⁵So I came out to meet you;
    I looked for you and have found you!
¹⁶I have covered my bed
    with colored linens from Egypt.
¹⁷I have perfumed my bed^(CA)
    with myrrh,^(CB) aloes and cinnamon.
¹⁸Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
    let’s enjoy ourselves with love!^(CC)
¹⁹My husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey.
²⁰He took his purse filled with money
    and will not be home till full moon.”

²¹With persuasive words she led him astray;
    she seduced him with her smooth talk.^(CD)
²²All at once he followed her
    like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer^[c] stepping into a noose^[d]^(CE)
²³    till an arrow pierces^(CF) his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
    little knowing it will cost him his life.^(CG)

²⁴Now then, my sons, listen^(CH) to me;
    pay attention to what I say.
²⁵Do not let your heart turn to her ways
    or stray into her paths.^(CI)
²⁶Many are the victims she has brought down;
    her slain are a mighty throng.
²⁷Her house is a highway to the grave,
    leading down to the chambers of death.^(CJ)