Proverbs 5:1-18 ▼

1 My son, be attentive to my wisdom [godly wisdom learned by costly experience], Incline your ear to my understanding;

2 That you may exercise discrimination and discretion (good judgment), And your lips may reserve knowledge and answer wisely [to temptation].

3 For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey [like a honeycomb] And her speech is smoother than oil;

4 But in the end she is bitter like [the extract of] wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),

6 So that she does not think [seriously] about the path of life; Her ways are aimless and unstable; you cannot know where her path leads.

7 Now then, my sons, listen to me And do not depart from (forget) the words of my mouth.

8 Let your way [in life] be far from her, And do not go near the door of her house [avoid even being near the places of temptation],

9 Or you will give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one,

10 And strangers will be filled with your strength And your hard-earned wealth will go to the house of a foreigner [who does not know God];

11 And you will groan when your life is ending, When your flesh and your body are consumed;

12 And you say, “How I hated instruction and discipline, And my heart despised correction and reproof!

13 “I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, Nor have I inclined my ear to those who instructed me.

14 “I was almost in total ruin In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

15 Drink water from your own cistern [of a pure marriage relationship] And fresh running water from your own well.

16 Should your springs (children) be dispersed, As streams of water in the streets?

17 [Confine yourself to your own wife.] Let your children be yours alone, And not the children of strangers with you.

18 Let your fountain (wife) be blessed [with the rewards of fidelity], And rejoice in the wife of your youth.