New International Version

New King James Version

Warning Against Adultery

My son, pay attention to my wisdom,
turn your ear to my words of insight,

1

The Peril of Adultery

My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
[a]Lend your ear to my understanding,

2

that you may maintain discretion
and your lips may preserve knowledge.

2

That you may [b]preserve discretion,
And your lips may keep knowledge.

3

For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil;

3

For the lips of [c]an immoral woman drip honey,
And her mouth is smoother than oil;

4

but in the end she is bitter as gall,
sharp as a double-edged sword.

4

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.

5

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

5

Her feet go down to death,
Her steps lay hold of [d]hell.

6

She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.

6

Lest you ponder her path of life —
Her ways are unstable;
You do not know them.

7

Now then, my sons, listen to me;
do not turn aside from what I say.

7

Therefore hear me now, my children,
And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

8

Keep to a path far from her,
do not go near the door of her house,

8

Remove your way far from her,
And do not go near the door of her house,

9

lest you lose your honor to others
and your dignitya to one who is cruel,

9

Lest you give your [e]honor to others,
And your years to the cruel one;

10

lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich the house of another.

10

Lest aliens be filled with your [f]wealth,
And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;

11

At the end of your life you will groan,
when your flesh and body are spent.

11

And you mourn at last,
When your flesh and your body are consumed,

12

You will say, “How I hated discipline!
How my heart spurned correction!

12

And say:
“How I have hated instruction,
And my heart despised correction!

13

I would not obey my teachers
or turn my ear to my instructors.

13

I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,
Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!

14

And I was soon in serious trouble
in the assembly of God’s people.”

14

I was on the verge of total ruin,
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

15

Drink water from your own cistern,
running water from your own well.

15

Drink water from your own cistern,
And running water from your own well.

16

Should your springs overflow in the streets,
your streams of water in the public squares?

16

Should your fountains be dispersed abroad,
[g]Streams of water in the streets?

17

Let them be yours alone,
never to be shared with strangers.

17

Let them be only your own,
And not for strangers with you.

18

May your fountain be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.

18

Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice with the wife of your youth.

19

A loving doe, a graceful deer —
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be intoxicated with her love.

19

As a loving deer and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
And always be [h]enraptured with her love.

20

Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

20

For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman,
And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?

21

For your ways are in full view of the Lord,
and he examines all your paths.

21

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He [i]ponders all his paths.

22

The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;
the cords of their sins hold them fast.

22

His own iniquities entrap the wicked man,
And he is caught in the cords of his sin.

23

For lack of discipline they will die,
led astray by their own great folly.

23

He shall die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

Parallel

New International Version

New King James Version

Proverbs 5

Proverbs 5