Warning Against Adultery

5:1 My child, be attentive to my wisdom, pay close attention to my understanding, 5:2 in order to safeguard discretion, and that your lips may guard knowledge. 5:3 For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her seductive words are smoother than olive oil, 5:4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. 5:5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. 5:6 Lest she should make level the path leading to life, her paths are unstable but she does not know it. 5:7 So now, children, listen to me; do not turn aside from the words I speak. 5:8 Keep yourself far from her, and do not go near the door of her house, 5:9 lest you give your vigor to others and your years to a cruel person, 5:10 lest strangers devour your strength, and your labor benefit another man’s house. 5:11 And at the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are wasted away. 5:12 And you will say, “How I hated discipline! My heart spurned reproof! 5:13 For I did not obey my teachers and I did not heed my instructors. 5:14 I almost came to complete ruin in the midst of the whole congregation!” 5:15 Drink water from your own cistern and running water from your own well. 5:16 Should your springs be dispersed outside, your streams of water in the wide plazas? 5:17 Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you. 5:18 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in your young wife – 5:19 a loving doe, a graceful deer; may her breasts satisfy you at all times, may you be captivated by her love always. 5:20 But why should you be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, and embrace the bosom of a different woman? 5:21 For the ways of a person are in front of the Lord’s eyes, and the Lord weighs all that person’s paths. 5:22 The wicked will be captured by his own iniquities, and he will be held by the cords of his own sin. 5:23 He will die because there was no discipline; because of the greatness of his folly he will reel.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Proverbs warns a son to listen to wisdom and stay far from adultery. The adulteress seems sweet at first, but her way ends in bitterness, loss, shame, and death. The passage also teaches that faithful marriage is the right place for sexual joy, and that the Lord sees every path and judges sin justly.

A father calls his son to pay close attention to wisdom and understanding. The goal is that he will have discretion and guard knowledge. The warning is clear: the adulterous woman may speak with sweet and smooth words, but her end is bitter. Her path leads to death and the grave.

So the son must stay far away from her. He must not even go near her house. Sexual sin brings real loss. It wastes strength, years, and labor. In the end, the sinner mourns his own foolishness and hates the discipline he refused. He sees too late that he ignored correction and nearly came to ruin.

The passage then gives a better path. A man should rejoice in his own wife and keep his love within marriage. The water and fountain images speak of faithful, exclusive delight in one’s covenant marriage, not sharing what belongs there with strangers. The warning is not against marriage joy, but for it.

The final verses ground all of this in the Lord’s sight. God sees every path and weighs every life. Sin does not stay hidden. The wicked is caught by his own sin, and refusal of discipline ends in death. The passage therefore calls for wisdom, fidelity, repentance, and a serious fear of the Lord.

• Wisdom and understanding are meant to guard a person from sinful choices.
• Adultery may seem attractive, but its end is bitter and deadly.
• The son is told to stay far from temptation, not to flirt with it.
• Sexual sin brings loss, shame, and regret.
• Marital fidelity is the proper place for sexual joy and delight.
• The Lord sees every path and weighs every life.
• Sin can trap the sinner, and refusing discipline leads to death.

• Be attentive to wisdom and understanding.
• Keep far from the adulteress and do not go near her house.
• Do not give your strength, years, or labor to sin.
• Rejoice in your own wife and keep love within marriage.
• Remember that the Lord sees and weighs all your paths.
• Do not reject discipline or reproof.

This passage belongs to Israel’s wisdom teaching under the Lord’s covenant. It reflects God’s moral order for household life, marriage, and public faithfulness. The Lord’s all-seeing judgment shows that private sin is never outside his rule. In the larger Bible, this wisdom pattern supports the call to holiness, faithful marriage, and disciplined covenant life.

Believers should treat sexual temptation as dangerous and keep clear boundaries early. It is wiser to avoid tempting situations than to try to escape them later. Marriage should be honored as a good gift, with faithfulness and joy. Correction and discipline should be received, not resisted. Since the Lord sees all, hidden sin should be confessed and turned from quickly.

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