Proverbs 5

A Warning Against Committing Adultery 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Listen carefully to my wise sayings.

2Then you will continue to have good sense. Your lips will keep on speaking words of knowledge.

3A woman who commits adultery has lips that drip honey. What she says is smoother than olive oil.

4But in the end she is like bitter poison. She cuts like a sword that has two edges.

5Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to the grave.

6She doesn’t give any thought to her way of life. Her paths have no direction, but she doesn’t realize it.

7My sons, listen to me. Don’t turn away from what I say.

8Stay on a path far away from that evil woman. Don’t even go near the door of her house.

9If you do, you will lose your honor to other people. You will give your self-respect to someone who is mean.

10Strangers will use up all your wealth. Your hard work will make someone else rich.

11At the end of your life you will groan. Your skin and your body will be worn out.

12You will say, “How I hated to take advice! How my heart refused to be corrected!

13I would not obey my teachers. I wouldn’t listen to those who taught me.

14I was soon in deep trouble. It happened right in front of the whole assembly of God’s people.”

15Drink water from your own well. Drink running water from your own spring.

16Should your springs pour out into the streets? Should your streams of water pour out in public places?

17No! Let them belong to you alone. Never share them with strangers.

18May your fountain be blessed. May the wife you married when you were young make you happy.

19She is like a loving doe, a graceful deer. May her breasts always satisfy you. May you always be captured by her love.

20My son, why be captured by another man’s wife? Why hug a woman who has gone astray?

21The LORD watches your ways. He studies all your paths.

22Sinners are trapped by their own evil acts. They are held tight by the ropes of their sins. 23They will die because they refused to be corrected. Their sins will capture them because they were very foolish.