5:1 My son, if you listen closely to my wisdom and good sense, |
5:2 you will have sound judgment, and you will always know the right thing to say. |
5:3 The words of an immoral woman may be as sweet as honey and as smooth as olive oil. |
5:4 But all that you really get from being with her is bitter poison and pain. |
5:5 If you follow her, she will lead you down to the world of the dead. |
5:6 She has missed the path that leads to life and doesn't even know it. |
5:7 My son, listen to me and do everything I say. |
5:8 Stay away from a bad woman! Don't even go near the door of her house. |
5:9 You will lose your self-respect and end up in debt to some cruel person for the rest of your life. |
5:10 Strangers will get your money and everything else you have worked for. |
5:11 When it's all over, your body will waste away, as you groan |
5:12 and shout, "I hated advice and correction! |
5:13 I paid no attention to my teachers, |
5:14 and now I am disgraced in front of everyone." |
5:15 You should be faithful to your wife, just as you take water from your own well. |
5:16 And don't be like a stream from which just any woman may take a drink. |
5:17 Save yourself for your wife and don't have sex with other women. |
5:18 Be happy with the wife you married when you were young. |
5:19 She is beautiful and graceful, just like a deer; you should be attracted to her and stay deeply in love. |
5:20 Don't go crazy over a woman who is unfaithful to her own husband! |
5:21 The LORD sees everything, and he watches us closely. |
5:22 Sinners are trapped and caught by their own evil deeds. |
5:23 They get lost and die because of their foolishness and lack of self-control. |