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Pitfalls of Immorality

¹ My son, ^(C1)be attentive to my wisdom godly wisdom learned by costly experience,
^(C2)Incline your ear to my understanding; ^(VR1)

² That you may ^(C1)exercise discrimination and discretion (good judgment),
And your ^(C2)lips may reserve knowledge and answer wisely to temptation.

³ For the lips of an ^(C1)immoral woman ^(C2)drip honey like a honeycomb
And her speech is ^(C3)smoother than oil; ^(VR1)

⁴ But in the end she is ^(C1)bitter like the extract of wormwood,
^(C2)Sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵ Her feet ^(C1)go down to death;
Her steps take hold of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),

⁶ So that she does not think seriously about the ^(C1)path of life;
Her ways are ^(C2)aimless and unstable; you ^(C3)cannot know where her path leads.

^7 (C1)Now then, my sons, listen to me
And do not ^(C2)depart from (forget) the words of my mouth.

^8 (C1)Let your way in life be far from her,
And do not go near the ^(C2)door of her house avoid even being near the places of temptation, ^(VR1)

⁹ Or you will give your honor to others,
And your years to the cruel one,

¹⁰ And strangers will be filled with your strength
And your hard-earned wealth will go to the house of a foreigner who does not know God;

¹¹ And you will groan when your life is ending,
When your flesh and your body are consumed;

¹² And you say, "How I ^(C1)hated instruction and discipline,
And my heart ^(C2)despised correction and reproof!

¹³ "I have not listened to the voice of my ^(C1)teachers,
Nor have I inclined my ear to those who instructed me.

¹⁴ "I was almost in total ruin
In the midst of the assembly and congregation."

^15 (F1)Drink water from your own ^(F2)cistern of a pure marriage relationship
And fresh running water from your own well.

¹⁶ Should your ^(F1)(C1)springs (children) be dispersed,
As streams of water in the streets?

¹⁷ Confine yourself to your own wife. Let your children be yours alone,
And not the children of strangers with you.

¹⁸ Let your ^(C1)fountain (wife) be blessed with the rewards of fidelity,
And ^(C2)rejoice in the ^(C3)wife of your youth. ^(VR1)

¹⁹ Let her be as a loving ^(C1)hind and graceful doe,
Let her breasts refresh and satisfy you at all times;
Always be ^(F1)exhilarated and delight in her love.

²⁰ Why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an ^(C1)immoral woman
And embrace the bosom of an ^(C2)outsider (pagan)?

²¹ For the ^(C1)ways of man are directly before the eyes of the LORD,
And He carefully ^(C2)watches all of his paths all of his comings and goings. ^(VR1)

²² The ^(C1)iniquities done by a wicked man will trap him,
And he will be held with the cords of his sin.

²³ He will ^(C1)die for lack of instruction (discipline),
And in the greatness of his foolishness he will go astray and be lost.