1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom, and listen closely to my insight, ISV — Proverbs 5:1
2 so you may carefully practice a5:2 Lit. guard discretion and your lips preserve knowledge. ISV — Proverbs 5:2
3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech b5:3 Lit. palate is smoother than oil. ISV — Proverbs 5:3
4 But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, c5:4 Wormwood is a plant with an extremely bitter taste. and as sharp as a double-edged sword. ISV — Proverbs 5:4
5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead to Sheol. d5:5 i.e. the realm of the dead ISV — Proverbs 5:5
6 You aren’t thinking about e5:6 Or She does not consider where her life is headed; her steps wander, but you do not realize f5:6 Or she does not realize it. ISV — Proverbs 5:6
7 Now, children, g5:7 Or sons listen to me. Don’t turn away from what I am saying. h5:7 Lit. from the words of my mouth ISV — Proverbs 5:7
8 Keep i5:8 Lit. Keep your path far away from her, and don’t go near the entrance to her house, ISV — Proverbs 5:8
9 so that you don’t give your honor to others, and waste your best years; j5:9 Lit. and your years to the cruel ISV — Proverbs 5:9
10 so that strangers don’t enrich themselves at your expense, k5:10 Lit. don’t satisfy themselves with your strength and your work won’t end up the possession of foreigners. l5:10 Lit. won’t go into a foreigner’s house ISV — Proverbs 5:10
11 You will cry out in anguish when your end comes, when your flesh and body are consumed, ISV — Proverbs 5:11
12 and you will say, “How I hated instruction, m5:12 Or discipline and my heart rejected correction! ISV — Proverbs 5:12
13 I did not obey my teachers and did not listen n5:13 Lit. incline my ear to my instructors. ISV — Proverbs 5:13
14 Now I am at the point of utter disaster in o5:14 Lit. in the midst of the assembly and in the congregation.” ISV — Proverbs 5:14
15 Drink water from your own cistern, and fresh p5:15 Lit. flowing water from your own well. ISV — Proverbs 5:15
16 Should your springs flow outside, or streams of water in the street? ISV — Proverbs 5:16
17 They should be for you alone and not for strangers who are with you. ISV — Proverbs 5:17
18 Let your fountain be blessed and enjoy the wife of your youth. ISV — Proverbs 5:18
19 Like a loving deer, a beautiful doe, let her breasts satisfy you all the time. Be constantly intoxicated by her love. ISV — Proverbs 5:19
20 Why should you be intoxicated by an adulteress, my son, and embrace the bosom of a foreign woman? ISV — Proverbs 5:20
21 Indeed, what a man does is q5:21 Lit. Indeed, a man’s ways are always in the LORD’s presence, r5:21 Lit. in front of the LORD’s eyes and he weighs all his paths. ISV — Proverbs 5:21
22 The wicked person’s iniquities will capture him, and he will be held with the cords of his sin. ISV — Proverbs 5:22
23 He will die for lack of discipline, and he goes astray because of his great folly. ISV — Proverbs 5:23