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Proverbs 5-7
The Message
Proverbs 5-7
The Message
Nothing but Sin and Bones
5 1-2 Dear friend, pay close attention to this, my wisdom;
listen very closely to the way I see it.
Then you’ll acquire a taste for good sense;
what I tell you will keep you out of trouble.
3-6 The lips of a seductive woman are oh so sweet,
her soft words are oh so smooth.
But it won’t be long before she’s gravel in your mouth,
a pain in your gut, a wound in your heart.
She’s dancing down the perfumed path to Death;
she’s headed straight for Hell and taking you with her.
She hasn’t a clue about Real Life,
about who she is or where she’s going.
7-14 So, my friend, listen closely;
don’t treat my words casually.
Keep your distance from such a woman;
absolutely stay out of her neighborhood.
You don’t want to squander your wonderful life,
to waste your precious life among the hardhearted.
Why should you allow strangers to take advantage of you?
Why be exploited by those who care nothing for you?
You don’t want to end your life full of regrets,
nothing but sin and bones,
Saying, “Oh, why didn’t I do what they told me?
Why did I reject a disciplined life?
Why didn’t I listen to my mentors,
or take my teachers seriously?
My life is ruined!
I haven’t one blessed thing to show for my life!”
Never Take Love for Granted
15-16 Do you know the saying, “Drink from your own rain barrel,
draw water from your own spring-fed well”?
It’s true. Otherwise, you may one day come home
and find your barrel empty and your well polluted.
17-20 Your spring water is for you and you only,
not to be passed around among strangers.
Bless your fresh-flowing fountain!
Enjoy the wife you married as a young man!
Lovely as an angel, beautiful as a rose—
don’t ever quit taking delight in her body.
Never take her love for granted!
Why would you trade enduring intimacies for cheap thrills with a prostitute?
for dalliance with a promiscuous stranger?
21-23 Mark well that God doesn’t miss a move you make;
he’s aware of every step you take.
The shadow of your sin will overtake you;
you’ll find yourself stumbling all over yourself in the dark.
Death is the reward of an undisciplined life;
your foolish decisions trap you in a dead end.
Like a Deer from the Hunter
6 1-5 Dear friend, if you’ve gone into hock with your neighbor
or locked yourself into a deal with a stranger,
If you’ve impulsively promised the shirt off your back
and now find yourself shivering out in the cold,
Friend, don’t waste a minute, get yourself out of that mess.
You’re in that man’s clutches!
Go, put on a long face; act desperate.
Don’t procrastinate—
there’s no time to lose.
Run like a deer from the hunter,
fly like a bird from the trapper!
A Lesson from the Ant
6-11 You lazy fool, look at an ant.
Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two.
Nobody has to tell it what to do.
All summer it stores up food;
at harvest it stockpiles provisions.
So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing?
How long before you get out of bed?
A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there,
sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next?
Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life,
poverty your permanent houseguest!
Always Cooking Up Something Nasty
12-15 Swindlers and scoundrels
talk out of both sides of their mouths.
They wink at each other, they shuffle their feet,
they cross their fingers behind their backs.
Their perverse minds are always cooking up something nasty,
always stirring up trouble.
Catastrophe is just around the corner for them,
a total wreck, their lives ruined beyond repair.
Seven Things God Hates
16-19 Here are six things God hates,
and one more that he loathes with a passion:
eyes that are arrogant,
a tongue that lies,
hands that murder the innocent,
a heart that hatches evil plots,
feet that race down a wicked track,
a mouth that lies under oath,
a troublemaker in the family.
Warning on Adultery
20-23 Good friend, follow your father’s good advice;
don’t wander off from your mother’s teachings.
Wrap yourself in them from head to foot;
wear them like a scarf around your neck.
Wherever you walk, they’ll guide you;
whenever you rest, they’ll guard you;
when you wake up, they’ll tell you what’s next.
For sound advice is a beacon,
good teaching is a light,
moral discipline is a life path.
24-35 They’ll protect you from promiscuous women,
from the seductive talk of some temptress.
Don’t lustfully fantasize on her beauty,
nor be taken in by her bedroom eyes.
You can buy an hour with a prostitute for a loaf of bread,
but a promiscuous woman may well eat you alive.
Can you build a fire in your lap
and not burn your pants?
Can you walk barefoot on hot coals
and not get blisters?
It’s the same when you have sex with your neighbor’s wife:
Touch her and you’ll pay for it. No excuses.
Hunger is no excuse
for a thief to steal;
When he’s caught he has to pay it back,
even if he has to put his whole house in hock.
Adultery is a brainless act,
soul-destroying, self-destructive;
Expect a bloody nose, a black eye,
and a reputation ruined for good.
For jealousy detonates rage in a cheated husband;
wild for revenge, he won’t make allowances.
Nothing you say or pay will make it all right;
neither bribes nor reason will satisfy him.
Dressed to Seduce
7 1-5 Dear friend, do what I tell you;
treasure my careful instructions.
Do what I say and you’ll live well.
My teaching is as precious as your eyesight—guard it!
Write it out on the back of your hands;
etch it on the chambers of your heart.
Talk to Wisdom as to a sister.
Treat Insight as your companion.
They’ll be with you to fend off the Temptress—
that smooth-talking, honey-tongued Seductress.
6-12 As I stood at the window of my house
looking out through the shutters,
Watching the mindless crowd stroll by,
I spotted a young man without any sense
Arriving at the corner of the street where she lived,
then turning up the path to her house.
It was dusk, the evening coming on,
the darkness thickening into night.
Just then, a woman met him—
she’d been lying in wait for him, dressed to seduce him.
Brazen and brash she was,
restless and roaming, never at home,
Walking the streets, loitering in the mall,
hanging out at every corner in town.
13-20 She threw her arms around him and kissed him,
boldly took his arm and said,
“I’ve got all the makings for a feast—
today I made my offerings, my vows are all paid,
So now I’ve come to find you,
hoping to catch sight of your face—and here you are!
I’ve spread fresh, clean sheets on my bed,
colorful imported linens.
My bed is aromatic with spices
and exotic fragrances.
Come, let’s make love all night,
spend the night in ecstatic lovemaking!
My husband’s not home; he’s away on business,
and he won’t be back for a month.”
21-23 Soon she has him eating out of her hand,
bewitched by her honeyed speech.
Before you know it, he’s trotting behind her,
like a calf led to the butcher shop,
Like a stag lured into ambush
and then shot with an arrow,
Like a bird flying into a net
not knowing that its flying life is over.
24-27 So, friends, listen to me,
take these words of mine most seriously.
Don’t fool around with a woman like that;
don’t even stroll through her neighborhood.
Countless victims come under her spell;
she’s the death of many a poor man.
She runs a halfway house to hell,
fits you out with a shroud and a coffin.
Proverbs 5-7
New International Version
Proverbs 5-7
New International Version
Warning Against Adultery
5 My son,(A) pay attention to my wisdom,
turn your ear to my words(B) of insight,
2 that you may maintain discretion
and your lips may preserve knowledge.
3 For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil;(C)
4 but in the end she is bitter as gall,(D)
sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave.(E)
6 She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.(F)
7 Now then, my sons, listen(G) to me;
do not turn aside from what I say.
8 Keep to a path far from her,(H)
do not go near the door of her house,
9 lest you lose your honor to others
and your dignity[a] to one who is cruel,
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich the house of another.(I)
11 At the end of your life you will groan,
when your flesh and body are spent.
12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!
How my heart spurned correction!(J)
13 I would not obey my teachers
or turn my ear to my instructors.
14 And I was soon in serious trouble(K)
in the assembly of God’s people.”(L)
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
running water from your own well.
16 Should your springs overflow in the streets,
your streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be yours alone,
never to be shared with strangers.
18 May your fountain(M) be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.(N)
19 A loving doe, a graceful deer(O)—
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
20 Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?
21 For your ways are in full view(P) of the Lord,
and he examines(Q) all your paths.(R)
22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;(S)
the cords of their sins hold them fast.(T)
23 For lack of discipline they will die,(U)
led astray by their own great folly.(V)
Warnings Against Folly
6 My son,(W) if you have put up security(X) for your neighbor,(Y)
if you have shaken hands in pledge(Z) for a stranger,
2 you have been trapped by what you said,
ensnared by the words of your mouth.
3 So do this, my son, to free yourself,
since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—[b]
and give your neighbor no rest!
4 Allow no sleep to your eyes,
no slumber to your eyelids.(AA)
5 Free yourself, like a gazelle(AB) from the hand of the hunter,(AC)
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.(AD)
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;(AE)
consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer(AF)
and gathers its food at harvest.(AG)
9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?(AH)
When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest(AI)—
11 and poverty(AJ) will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.
12 A troublemaker and a villain,
who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
13 who winks maliciously with his eye,(AK)
signals with his feet
and motions with his fingers,(AL)
14 who plots evil(AM) with deceit in his heart—
he always stirs up conflict.(AN)
15 Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;(AO)
he will suddenly(AP) be destroyed—without remedy.(AQ)
16 There are six things the Lord hates,(AR)
seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes,(AS)
a lying tongue,(AT)
hands that shed innocent blood,(AU)
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,(AV)
19 a false witness(AW) who pours out lies(AX)
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.(AY)
Warning Against Adultery
20 My son,(AZ) keep your father’s command
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.(BA)
21 Bind them always on your heart;
fasten them around your neck.(BB)
22 When you walk, they will guide you;
when you sleep, they will watch over you;
when you awake, they will speak to you.
23 For this command is a lamp,
this teaching is a light,(BC)
and correction and instruction
are the way to life,(BD)
24 keeping you from your neighbor’s wife,
from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.(BE)
25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes.
26 For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
but another man’s wife preys on your very life.(BF)
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap
without his clothes being burned?
28 Can a man walk on hot coals
without his feet being scorched?
29 So is he who sleeps(BG) with another man’s wife;(BH)
no one who touches her will go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,(BI)
though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
32 But a man who commits adultery(BJ) has no sense;(BK)
whoever does so destroys himself.
33 Blows and disgrace are his lot,
and his shame will never(BL) be wiped away.
34 For jealousy(BM) arouses a husband’s fury,(BN)
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will not accept any compensation;
he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.(BO)
Warning Against the Adulterous Woman
7 My son,(BP) keep my words
and store up my commands within you.
2 Keep my commands and you will live;(BQ)
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.(BR)
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and to insight, “You are my relative.”
5 They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
from the wayward woman with her seductive words.(BS)
6 At the window of my house
I looked down through the lattice.
7 I saw among the simple,
I noticed among the young men,
a youth who had no sense.(BT)
8 He was going down the street near her corner,
walking along in the direction of her house
9 at twilight,(BU) as the day was fading,
as the dark of night set in.
10 Then out came a woman to meet him,
dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
11 (She is unruly(BV) and defiant,
her feet never stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the squares,
at every corner she lurks.)(BW)
13 She took hold of him(BX) and kissed him
and with a brazen face she said:(BY)
14 “Today I fulfilled my vows,
and I have food from my fellowship offering(BZ) at home.
15 So I came out to meet you;
I looked for you and have found you!
16 I have covered my bed
with colored linens from Egypt.
17 I have perfumed my bed(CA)
with myrrh,(CB) aloes and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
let’s enjoy ourselves with love!(CC)
19 My husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey.
20 He took his purse filled with money
and will not be home till full moon.”
21 With persuasive words she led him astray;
she seduced him with her smooth talk.(CD)
22 All at once he followed her
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer[c] stepping into a noose[d](CE)
23 till an arrow pierces(CF) his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
little knowing it will cost him his life.(CG)
Footnotes
- Proverbs 5:9 Or years
- Proverbs 6:3 Or Go and humble yourself,
- Proverbs 7:22 Syriac (see also Septuagint); Hebrew fool
- Proverbs 7:22 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.