Proverbs 5

Pitfalls of Immorality

1 My son, ^apay attention to my wisdom,
^bIncline your ear to my understanding,
2 So that you may ^cmaintain discretion
And your ^dlips may comply with knowledge.
3 For the lips of an ▼

▼Lit strange woman

, ^fadulteress ^gdrip honey,
And her ▼

▼Lit palate

speech is ⁱsmoother than oil;
4 But in the end she is ^jbitter as wormwood,
^kSharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet ^lgo down to death,
Her steps take hold of Sheol.
6 ▼

▼Lit That she not watch

She does not ponder the ⁿpath of life;
Her ways are ^ounstable, she ^pdoes not know it.

7 ^qNow then, my sons, listen to me
And ^rdo not turn away from the words of my mouth.
8 ^sKeep your way far from her,
And do not go near the ^tdoor of her house,
9 Otherwise you will give your vigor to others,
And your years to the cruel one;
10 And strangers will be filled with your strength,
And your hard-earned possessions will go to the house of a foreigner;
11 And you will groan ▼

▼Or at

in ▼

▼Lit your end

the end,
When your flesh and your body are consumed;
12 And you say, “How I ^whated instruction!
And my heart ^xdisdainfully rejected rebuke!
13 “I did not listen to the voice of my ^yteachers,
Nor incline my ear to my instructors!
14 “I was almost in total ruin
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

15 Drink water from your own cistern,
And ▼

▼Lit flowing

fresh water from your own well.
16 Should your ^aasprings overflow into the street,
Streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be yours alone,
And not for strangers with you.
18 Let your ^abfountain be blessed,
And ^acrejoice in the ^adwife of your youth.
19 Like a loving ^aedoe and a graceful mountain goat,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be ▼

▼Lit intoxicated

exhilarated always with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an ▼

▼Lit strange woman

, ^ahadulteress,
And embrace the breasts of a ^aiforeigner?
21 For the ^ajways of everyone are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He ^akobserves all his paths.
22 His ^alown wrongdoings will trap the wicked,
And he will be held by the ropes of his sin.
23 He will ^amdie for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his foolishness he will go astray.