Warning Against Adultery
1 My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
incline your ear to my understanding,
1 My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
incline your ear to my understanding,
2 that you may keep discretion,
and your lips may guard knowledge.
and your lips may guard knowledge.
3 For the lips of a forbiddena woman drip honey,
and her speechb is smoother than oil,
and her speechb is smoother than oil,
4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps follow the path toc Sheol;
her steps follow the path toc Sheol;
6 she does not ponder the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it.
her ways wander, and she does not know it.
7 And now, O sons, listen to me,
and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8 Keep your way far from her,
and do not go near the door of her house,
and do not go near the door of her house,
9 lest you give your honor to others
and your years to the merciless,
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,
and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
11 and at the end of your life you groan,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
12 and you say, “How I hated discipline,
and my heart despised reproof!
and my heart despised reproof!
13 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
or incline my ear to my instructors.
or incline my ear to my instructors.
14 I am at the brink of utter ruin
in the assembled congregation.”
in the assembled congregation.”
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
flowing water from your own well.
flowing water from your own well.
16 Should your springs be scattered abroad,
streams of water in the streets?
streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be for yourself alone,
and not for strangers with you.
and not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
19 a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;
be intoxicatedd always in her love.
Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;
be intoxicatedd always in her love.
20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman
and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?e
and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?e
21 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord,
and he pondersf all his paths.
and he pondersf all his paths.
22 The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
23 He dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly he is led astray.
and because of his great folly he is led astray.