Read the Bible

Pitfalls of Immorality

¹ My son, ^(C1)give attention to my wisdom,
^(C2)Incline your ear to my understanding;

² That you may ^(C1)observe discretion
And your ^(C2)lips may reserve knowledge.

³ For the lips of an ^(F1)(C1)adulteress ^(C2)drip honey
And ^(C3)smoother than oil is her ^(F2)speech;

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

⁵ Her feet ^(C1)go down to death,
Her steps take hold of Sheol.

^6 (F1)She does not ponder the ^(C1)path of life;
Her ways are ^(C2)unstable, she ^(C3)does not know it.

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

^8 (C1)Keep your way far from her
And do not go near the ^(C2)door of her house,

⁹ Or you will give your vigor to others
And your years to the cruel one;

¹⁰ And strangers will be filled with your strength
And your hard-earned goods will go to the house of an alien;

¹¹ And you groan at your ^(F1)final end,
When your flesh and your body are consumed;

¹² And you say, "How I have ^(C1)hated instruction!
And my heart ^(C2)spurned reproof!

¹³ "I have not listened to the voice of my ^(C1)teachers,
Nor inclined my ear to my instructors!

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

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern
And ^(F1)fresh water from your own well.

¹⁶ Should your ^(C1)springs be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets?

¹⁷ Let them be yours alone
And not for strangers with you.

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

¹⁹ As a loving ^(C1)hind and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be ^(F1)exhilarated always with her love.

²⁰ For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an ^(F1)(C1)adulteress
And embrace the bosom of a ^(C2)foreigner?

²¹ For the ^(C1)ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD,
And He ^(C2)watches all his paths.

²² His ^(C1)own iniquities will capture the wicked,
And he will be held with the cords of his sin.

²³ He will ^(C1)die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.