Proverbs 5 | English Standard Version

English Standard Version

Warning Against Adultery

1 My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding, (Pr 2:1; Pr 2:2; Pr 4:20; Pr 22:17)

Pr 2:1Pr 2:2Pr 4:20Pr 22:17

2 that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. (Pr 1:4; Mal 2:7) 3 For the lips of a forbidden^[1] woman drip honey, and her speech^[2] is smoother than oil, (Ps 55:21; Pr 2:16) 4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. (De 29:18; Ps 55:21; Ps 57:4; Ps 149:6; Ec 7:26; Jer 9:15; La 3:15; La 3:19; Re 8:11)

De 29:18Ps 55:21Ps 57:4Ps 149:6Ec 7:26Jer 9:15La 3:15La 3:19Re 8:11

5 Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to^[3] Sheol; (Pr 7:27) 6 she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. (Pr 4:26; Pr 5:21) 7 And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. (Pr 4:1) 8 Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house, 9 lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless, 10 lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner, (Ps 127:2) 11 and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed, (Eze 24:23) 12 and you say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! (Ps 107:11; Pr 1:22; Pr 1:25; Pr 1:29; Pr 12:1)

Ps 107:11Pr 1:22Pr 1:25Pr 1:29Pr 12:1

13 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors. 14 I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.” (Ps 94:17) 15 Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. (Pr 5:18; Pr 9:17; So 4:12; So 4:15; Jer 2:13)

Pr 5:18Pr 9:17So 4:12So 4:15Jer 2:13

16 Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets? (Ps 68:26; Jer 9:21; Zec 8:5) 17 Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you. (Pr 14:10) 18 Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, (De 24:5; Pr 15:1; Mal 2:14) 19 a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated^[4] always in her love. (So 2:9; So 2:17; So 8:14; Jer 31:14)

So 2:9So 2:17So 8:14Jer 31:14

20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?^[5] (Pr 2:16) 21 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders^[6] all his paths. (Job 14:16; Ps 11:4; Ps 119:168; Pr 5:6; Ho 7:2; Heb 4:13)

Job 14:16Ps 11:4Ps 119:168Pr 5:6Ho 7:2Heb 4:13

22 The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. (Ps 7:15; Ps 7:16; Pr 6:2) 23 He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray. (Job 4:21; Job 12:24)