(Proverbs 5:1-23) My son, pay attention to my wisdom, turn your ear to my words 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; ⁴ but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. ⁵ Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. ⁶ She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it. ⁷ Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say. ⁸ Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house, ⁹ lest you lose your honor to others and your dignity to one who is cruel, ¹⁰ lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich the house of another. 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! ¹³ I would not obey my teachers or turn my ear to my instructors. ¹⁴ And I was soon in serious trouble in the assembly of God’s people.” 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 be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. ¹⁹ A loving doe, a graceful deer—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 of the Lord, and he examines all your paths. ²² The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast. ²³ For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly.

(Prov. 6:25-35) 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. 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 with another man’s wife; 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, though it costs him all the wealth of his house. ³² But a man who commits adultery has no sense; whoever does so destroys himself. ³³ Blows and disgrace are his lot, and his shame will never be wiped away. ³⁴ For jealousy arouses a husband’s fury, 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.

(Prov. 7:6-27) 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. ⁸ He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house ⁹ at twilight, 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 and defiant, her feet never stay at home; ¹² now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks.) ¹³ She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said: ¹⁴ “Today I fulfilled my vows, and I have food from my fellowship offering 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 with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. ¹⁸ Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning; let’s enjoy ourselves with love! 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. ²² All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose ²³ till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life. ²⁴ Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say. ²⁵ Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths. ²⁶ Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng. ²⁷ Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.

(Prov. 22:14) The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit; a man who is under the Lord’s wrath falls into it.