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The Proverbs

⭑ Berean Study Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

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- Chapter 5 -

Admonition to marriage. Warning against unchastity

(Leviticus 20:10-21; 1 Corinthians 5:1-8)
1
My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight,
2
that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.
3
Though the lips of the forbidden woman (a) drip honey and her speech (b) is smoother than oil,
4
in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.
5
Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol.(c)
6
She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable.
7
So now, my sons, listen to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth.
8
Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,
9
lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel;
10
lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner.
11
At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are spent,
12
and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!
13
I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors.
14
I am on the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.”

Married life

15
Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.
16
Why should your springs flow 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 fawn— may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated (d) by her love forever.
20
Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger?(e)
21
For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines (f) all his paths.
22
The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
23
He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.

Footnotes

(a)5:3 Or the adulteress
(b)5:3 Or her palate
(c)5:5 Or lay hold of Sheol
(d)5:19 Or be led astray; also in verse 20
(e)5:20 Or a foreign woman or another man’s wife
(f)5:21 Or ponders or makes level

Admonition to marriage. Warning against unchastity

(Leviticus 20:10-21; 1 Corinthians 5:1-8)
1
My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding,
2
that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.
3
For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,
4
but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
5
Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.(a)
6
She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it.
7
Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth.
8
Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house,
9
lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;
10
lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man’s house.
11
You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
12
and say, “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof.
13
I haven’t obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!
14
I have come to the brink of utter ruin, among the gathered assembly.”

Married life

15
Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.
16
Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
17
Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.
18
Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19
A loving doe and a graceful deer— let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.
20
For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?
21
For the ways of man are before the LORD’s eyes. He examines all his paths.
22
The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
23
He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.

Footnotes

(a)5:5 Sheol is the place of the dead.
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