Proverbs 5:1-23

  • Warning against immoral women (1-14)

  • Rejoice with your wife (15-23)

5  My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Listen carefully* to my discernment,+  2  So that you may guard your thinking abilitiesAnd safeguard knowledge with your lips.+  3  For the lips of a wayward* woman drip like a honeycomb,+And her mouth is smoother than oil.+  4  But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood+And as sharp as a two-edged sword.+  5  Her feet descend into death. Her steps lead straight to the Grave.*  6  She gives no thought to the path of life. Her course wanders, but she does not know where.  7  Now, my sons, listen to meAnd do not turn away from what I am saying.  8  Stay far away from her;Do not go near the entrance of her house,+  9  So that you may not give your dignity to others+Nor reap years of what is cruel;+ 10  So that strangers may not drain your resources*+And what you labored for go to the house of a foreigner. 11  Otherwise, you will groan at the end of your lifeWhen your flesh and body waste away+ 12  And you say: “How I hated discipline! How my heart despised reproof! 13  I did not listen to the voice of my instructorsOr pay attention to my teachers. 14  I have come to the brink of complete ruinIn the midst of the entire congregation.”*+ 15  Drink water from your own cisternAnd flowing* water from your own well.+ 16  Should your springs be dispersed outside,Your streams of water in the public squares?+ 17  Let them be for you alone,And not for strangers with you.+ 18  May your own fountain* be blessed,And may you rejoice with the wife of your youth,+ 19  A loving doe, a graceful mountain goat.*+ Let her breasts satisfy* you at all times. May you be captivated by her love constantly.+ 20  So why, my son, should you be captivated by a wayward* womanOr embrace the bosom of an immoral* woman?+ 21  For the ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah;He examines all his paths.+ 22  The wicked one is ensnared by his own errors,And he will be caught in the ropes of his own sin.+ 23  He will die for lack of disciplineAnd go astray because of his excessive foolishness.

Footnotes

Lit., “Incline your ear.”
Lit., “strange.” See Pr 2:16.
Or “Sheol,” that is, the common grave of mankind. See Glossary.
Or “power.”
Lit., “In the midst of the assembly and the congregation.”
Or “fresh.”
Or “water source.”
Or “ibex.”
Or “intoxicate.”
Lit., “strange.” See Pr 2:16.
Lit., “foreign.” See Pr 2:16.