Proverbs 5:3 - 5:23

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For the lips of a strange woman drip honey

And smoother than oil is her speech;

But her end is bitter as wormwood,

Sharp as a two‑edged sword.

Her feet go down to death,

Her steps take hold of Sheol,

Lest she watch the path of life;

Her tracks are unstable, she does not know it.

So now, my sons, listen to me

And do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

Keep your way far from her

And do not go near the door of her house,

Lest you give your splendor to others

And your years to the cruel one;

Lest strangers be satisfied by your strength

And by your painful labor, those in the house of a foreigner;

And you groan at your end,

When your flesh and your body are consumed;

And you say, “How I have hated discipline!

And my heart spurned reproof!

I have not listened to the voice of my instructors,

And I have not inclined my ear to my teachers!

I was almost in utter ruin

In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

Drink water from your own cistern

And fresh water from your own well.

Should your springs be dispersed abroad,

Streams of water in the streets?

Let them be for you alone,

And not for strangers with you.

Let your fountain be blessed,

And be glad in the wife of your youth.

As a loving hind and a graceful doe,

Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;

Be intoxicated always with her love.

So why should you, my son, be intoxicated with a strange woman

And embrace the bosom of a foreign woman?

For the ways of a man are before the eyes of Yahweh,

And He watches all his tracks.

His own iniquities will capture him who is the wicked one,

And with the cords of his sin he will be held fast.

He will die for lack of discipline,

And in the abundance of his folly he will stumble in intoxication.

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Proverbs 6:20 - 6:35

« Prov 5 | Prov 6 | Prov 7 »

Warning Against Adultery

My son, observe the commandment of your father

And do not abandon the law of your mother;

Bind them continually on your heart;

Tie them around your neck.

When you walk about, they will lead you;

When you sleep, they will keep watch over you;

And when you awake, they will speak to you.

For the commandment is a lamp and the law is light;

And reproofs for discipline are the way of life

To keep you from the evil woman,

From the smooth tongue of the foreign woman.

Do not desire her beauty in your heart,

Nor let her capture you with her eyelids.

For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread,

And an adulteress hunts for the precious life.

Can a man take fire in his bosom

And his clothes not be burned?

Or can a man walk on hot coals

And his feet not be scorched?

So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;

Whoever touches her will not go unpunished.

Men do not despise a thief if he steals

To fill himself when he is hungry;

But when he is found, he must repay sevenfold;

He must give all the substance of his house.

The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking a heart of wisdom;

He who would destroy his soul does it.

Wounds and disgrace he will find,

And his reproach will not be blotted out.

For jealousy enrages a man,

And he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

He will not accept any ransom,

He will not be willing though you give many bribes.

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Proverbs 7:4 - 7:27

« Prov 6 | Prov 7 | Prov 8 »

Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

And call understanding your intimate friend;

In order to keep you from the strange woman,

From the foreign woman who flatters with her words.

For at the window of my house

I looked out through my lattice,

And I saw among the simple,

And discerned among the sons

A young man lacking a heart of wisdom,

Passing through the street near her corner;

And he strides along the way to her house,

In the twilight, in the evening of that day,

In the middle of the night, and in the thick darkness.

And behold, a woman comes to meet him,

Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.

She is boisterous and rebellious,

Her feet do not dwell at home;

Stepping in the streets, stepping in the squares,

And near every corner she lies in wait.

So she seizes him and kisses him

And with a brazen face she says to him:

“The sacrifices of peace offerings are with me;

Today I paid my vows.

Therefore I have come out to meet you,

To seek your face earnestly, and I have found you.

I have spread my couch with coverings,

With colored linens of Egypt.

I have sprinkled my bed

With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

Come, then, let us drink our fill as lovers until morning;

Let us delight ourselves with the pleasures of love.

For my husband is not at home,

He has gone on a journey far away;

He took a bag of silver in his hand,

On the day of the full moon he will come home.”

With her abundant persuasions she entices him;

With her flattering lips she drives him to herself.

He suddenly follows her

As an ox goes to the slaughter,

Or as one in fetters to the discipline of an ignorant fool,

Until an arrow pierces through his liver;

As a bird hastens to the snare,

And he does not know that it will cost him his soul.

So now, my sons, listen to me,

And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

Do not let your heart go astray into her ways,

Do not wander into her pathways.

For many are the slain whom she has cast down,

And numerous are all those killed by her.

The ways to Sheol are in her house,

Descending to the chambers of death.

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Proverbs 22:14

« Prov 21 | Prov 22 | Prov 23 »

The mouth of strange women is a deep pit;

He who is cursed of Yahweh will fall into it.

« Prov 21 | Prov 22 | Prov 23 »

Proverbs 23:26 - 23:28

« Prov 22 | Prov 23 | Prov 24 »

Give your heart to me, my son,

And let your eyes delight in my ways.

For a harlot is a deep pit

And a foreign woman is a narrow well.

Surely she lies in wait as a robber,

And adds to the treacherous among men.

« Prov 22 | Prov 23 | Prov 24 »

Proverbs 30:20 - 30:23

« Prov 29 | Prov 30 | Prov 31 »

This is the way of an adulterous woman:

She eats and wipes her mouth,

And says, “I have done no wrong.”

Under three things the earth quakes,

And under four, it cannot bear up:

Under a slave when he becomes king,

And a wicked fool when he is satisfied with food,

Under an unloved woman when she gets a husband,

And a servant‑girl when she supplants her mistress.

« Prov 29 | Prov 30 | Prov 31 »

Proverbs 31:3

« Prov 30 | Prov 31 | Eccles 1 »

Do not give your excellence to women,

Or your ways to that which blots out kings.

« Prov 30 | Prov 31 | Eccles 1 »