Proverbs 5

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The Wisdom of Avoiding Adultery

5 <1> Son, listen to this piece of wisdom from me. Pay attention to what I know to be true. <2> Remember to live wisely, and what you learn will keep your lips from saying the wrong thing. <3> Now, another man's wife might be very charming, and the words from her lips so sweet and inviting. <4> But in the end, she will bring only bitterness and pain. It will be like bitter poison and a sharp sword. <5> She is on a path leading to death, and she will lead you straight to the grave. <6> Don't follow her. She has lost her way and does not even know it. Be careful. Stay on the road that leads to life.

<7> Now, my sons, listen to me. Don't forget the words I say. <8> Stay away from the woman who commits adultery.[8] Don't even go near her house. <9> If you do, others will get the honor you should have had. Some stranger will get everything you worked years to get. <10> People you don't know will take all your wealth. Others will get what you worked for. <11> At the end of your life, you will be sad that you ruined your health and lost everything you had. <12-13> Then you will say, "Why didn't I listen to my parents? Why didn't I pay attention to my teachers? I didn't want to be disciplined. I refused to be corrected. <14> So now I have suffered through just about every kind of trouble anyone can have, and everyone knows it."

<15> Now, about sex and marriage: Drink only the water that comes from your own well, <16> and don't let your water flow out into the streets. <17> Keep it for yourself, and don't share it with strangers. <18> Be happy with your own wife. Enjoy the woman you married while you were young. <19> She is like a beautiful deer, a lovely fawn.[9] Let her love satisfy you completely. Stay drunk on her love, <20> and don't go stumbling into the arms of another woman.

<21> The Lord clearly sees everything you do. He watches where you go. <22> The sins of the wicked will trap them. Those sins will be like ropes holding them back. <23> Evil people will die because they refuse to be disciplined. They will be trapped by their own desires.