Warning Against Adultery
1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom,
listen well to my words of insight,
2 that you may maintain discretion and your lips may
preserve knowledge.
3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech
is smoother than oil;
4 but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a
double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the
grave.
6 She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths are
crooked, but she knows it not.
7 Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from
what I say.
8 Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of
her house,
9 lest you give your best strength to others and your years
to one who is cruel,
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich
another man’s house.
11 At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh
and body are spent.
12 You will say, “How I hated discipline! How my heart
spurned correction!
13 I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors.
14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of
the whole assembly.”
15 Drink water from your own cistern, running water from
your own well.
16 Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams
of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with
strangers.
18 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the
wife of your youth.
19 A loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy
you always, may you ever be captivated by her love.
20 Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace
the bosom of another man’s wife?
21 For a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and he
examines all his paths.
22 The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of
his sin hold him fast.
23 He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own
great folly.
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