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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Proverbs 5 ESV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/proverbs/5.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/proverbs/5-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">ESV</a> > Proverbs 5</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../proverbs/4.htm" title="Proverbs 4">◄</a> Proverbs 5 <a href="../proverbs/6.htm" title="Proverbs 6">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">English Standard Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/esv/nas/proverbs/5.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div></a><div class="chap"><p class="heading">Warning Against Adultery</p><span class="block-indent"><p class="line-group"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">My son, be attentive to my wisdom;</span><br /><span class="indent">incline your ear to my understanding,</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">that you may keep discretion,</span><br /><span class="indent">and your lips may guard knowledge.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">For the lips of a forbidden<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew strange; also verse 20">a</a></sup></span> woman drip honey,</span><br /><span class="indent">and her speech<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew palate">b</a></sup></span> is smoother than oil,</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,</span><br /><span class="indent">sharp as a two-edged sword.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Her feet go down to death;</span><br /><span class="indent">her steps follow the path to<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew lay hold of">c</a></sup></span> Sheol;</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">she does not ponder the path of life;</span><br /><span class="indent">her ways wander, and she does not know it.</span></p> <p class="line-group"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">And now, O sons, listen to me,</span><br /><span class="indent">and do not depart from the words of my mouth.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Keep your way far from her,</span><br /><span class="indent">and do not go near the door of her house,</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">lest you give your honor to others</span><br /><span class="indent">and your years to the merciless,</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">lest strangers take their fill of your strength,</span><br /><span class="indent">and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">and at the end of your life you groan,</span><br /><span class="indent">when your flesh and body are consumed,</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">and you say, “How I hated discipline,</span><br /><span class="indent">and my heart despised reproof!</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">I did not listen to the voice of my teachers</span><br /><span class="indent">or incline my ear to my instructors.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">I am at the brink of utter ruin</span><br /><span class="indent">in the assembled congregation.”</span></p> <p class="line-group"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Drink water from your own cistern,</span><br /><span class="indent">flowing water from your own well.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Should your springs be scattered abroad,</span><br /><span class="indent">streams of water in the streets?</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Let them be for yourself alone,</span><br /><span class="indent">and not for strangers with you.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Let your fountain be blessed,</span><br /><span class="indent">and rejoice in the wife of your youth,</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span><span class="indent">a lovely deer, a graceful doe.</span><br /><span class="ln-group">Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;</span><br /><span class="indent">be intoxicated<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew be led astray; also verse 20">d</a></sup></span> always in her love.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman</span><br /><span class="indent">and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew a foreign woman">e</a></sup></span></span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>,</span><br /><span class="indent">and he ponders<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or makes level">f</a></sup></span> all his paths.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,</span><br /><span class="indent">and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">He dies for lack of discipline,</span><br /><span class="indent">and because of his great folly he is led astray.</span></p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="footnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">3</span> Hebrew <i>strange</i>; also verse 20<br /><span class="footnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">3</span> Hebrew <i>palate</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">c</span> <span class="fnverse">5</span> Hebrew <i>lay hold of</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">d</span> <span class="fnverse">19</span> Hebrew <i><span class="catch-word">be</span> led astray</i>; also verse 20<br /><span class="footnotesbot">e</span> <span class="fnverse">20</span> Hebrew <i><span class="catch-word">a</span> foreign woman</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">f</span> <span class="fnverse">21</span> Or <i>makes level</i><br /></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">ESV Text Edition® (2016).<br /><br />The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by <a href="http://www.crossway.org/home/esv/">Crossway Bibles</a>, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. 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