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Read the Bible

New Living Translation

Proverbs 5:9

If you do, you will lose your honor and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Adultery;   Harlot (Prostitute);   Lasciviousness;   Remorse;   Temptation;   Women;   Young Men;   The Topic Concordance - Disobedience;   Whoredom;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Prostitution;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Mercy;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Proverbs, Book of;   Shame and Honor;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Proverbs, Book of;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Proverbs book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Cruel;   Wisdom;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Chastity;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to othersand your years to someone cruel;
Hebrew Names Version
Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one;
King James Version
Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
English Standard Version
lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless,
New Century Version
or you will give your riches to others, and the best years of your life will be given to someone cruel.
New English Translation
lest you give your vigor to others and your years to a cruel person,
Amplified Bible
Or you will give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one,
New American Standard Bible
Otherwise you will give your vigor to others, And your years to the cruel one;
World English Bible
Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one;
Geneva Bible (1587)
Least thou giue thine honor vnto others, and thy yeeres to the cruell:
Legacy Standard Bible
Lest you give your splendor to othersAnd your years to the cruel one;
Berean Standard Bible
lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel,
Contemporary English Version
You will lose your self-respect and end up in debt to some cruel person for the rest of your life.
Complete Jewish Bible
so that you won't give your vigor to others and your years to someone who is cruel,
Darby Translation
lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel;
Easy-to-Read Version
If you do, others will get the honor you should have had. Some stranger will get everything you worked years to get.
George Lamsa Translation
Lest you give your strength to others, and your years to the cruel;
Good News Translation
If you do, others will gain the respect that you once had, and you will die young at the hands of merciless people.
Lexham English Bible
lest you give your honor to the others, and your years to the merciless,
Literal Translation
lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
That thou geue not thine honor vnto another, and thy yeares to the cruell.
American Standard Version
Lest thou give thine honor unto others, And thy years unto the cruel;
Bible in Basic English
For fear that you may give your honour to others, and your wealth to strange men:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Lest thou give thy vigour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel;
King James Version (1611)
Lest thou giue thine honour vnto others, and thy yeeres vnto the cruell:
Bishop's Bible (1568)
That thou geue not thy honour vnto other, and thy yeres to the cruell:
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
lest thou give away thy life to others, and thy substance to the merciless:
English Revised Version
Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Yyue thou not thin onour to aliens, and thi yeeris to the cruel;
Update Bible Version
Or else you will give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel;
Webster's Bible Translation
Lest thou give thy honor to others, and thy years to the cruel:
New King James Version
Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one;
New Life Bible
If you do, you would give your strength to others, and your years to those without loving-kindness.
New Revised Standard
or you will give your honor to others, and your years to the merciless,
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Lest thou give, to other men, thy vigour, and thy years, to him that is cruel:
Douay-Rheims Bible
Give not thy honour to strangers, and thy years to the cruel.
Revised Standard Version
lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless;
Young's Literal Translation
Lest thou give to others thy honour, And thy years to the fierce,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Or you will give your vigor to others And your years to the cruel one;

Contextual Overview

1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen carefully to my wise counsel. 2 Then you will show discernment, and your lips will express what you've learned. 3 For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. 4 But in the end she is as bitter as poison, as dangerous as a double-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. 6 For she cares nothing about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn't realize it. 7 So now, my sons, listen to me. Never stray from what I am about to say: 8 Stay away from her! Don't go near the door of her house! 9 If you do, you will lose your honor and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved. 10 Strangers will consume your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Proverbs 6:29-35, Genesis 38:23-26, Judges 16:19-21, Nehemiah 13:26, Hosea 4:13, Hosea 4:14

Reciprocal: Genesis 39:7 - Lie Proverbs 6:33 - A wound Proverbs 13:18 - Poverty Proverbs 31:3 - strength

Cross-References

1 Chronicles 1:2
Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared,
Luke 3:37
Lamech was the son of Methuselah. Methuselah was the son of Enoch. Enoch was the son of Jared. Jared was the son of Mahalalel. Mahalalel was the son of Kenan.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Lest thou give thine honour unto others,.... To strumpets, their children, attendants, servants, and friends; that is, either wealth or riches, which make men honourable; or their three, credit, and reputation, which are lost by keeping company with such persons; or the outward comeliness of the body, and inward rigour of the mind, which are impaired by adulterous practices. The Targum renders it, "thy strength"; and so the Syriac version, "thy strength of body", which is enervated by such impurities; see Proverbs 31:3; compare with this the kings of the earth that commit fornication with the whore of Rome, giving their power and strength to the beast, Revelation 17:2. Jarchi's note is,

"lest thine heart has respect to other gods, to give them the glory of thine honour and praise;''

and so understands it not of corporeal but of spiritual adultery or idolatry: the Septuagint and Arabic versions are, "thy life"; which agrees with what follows;

and thy years unto the cruel; youthful years, the flower of age, consumed by the cruel lust of uncleanness, which preys upon and wastes both body and substance, and cuts them off in the prime of days; and deprives of years which otherwise, according to the course of nature, and in all probability, might be arrived unto: so harlots, in Plautus o, are said to sup the blood of men, and to deprive of goods, light, honour, and friends p. And the harlot herself may be here meant; who, when she has got what she can, has no pity on the man she has ruined, and even will not stick to take away his life upon occasion; as well as is the cause and means of the damnation of his soul: or the jealous husband of the adulterous woman, who will not spare the adulterer when taken by him; or her brethren, her relations and friends; or her other gallants and co-rivals, who, when they have opportunity, will avenge themselves; or the civil magistrate, who executes judgment without mercy on such delinquents, this being a sin punished with death. Jarchi interprets the "cruel" of the prince of hell, the devil; and so the Midrash of the angel of death. The character well agrees with the antichristian beast, the whore of Rome; who, by her sorceries and fornications, has destroyed millions of souls.

o Bacchides, Act. 3. Sc. 1. v. 5. & Sc. 3. v. 67. p Truculentus, Act. 2. Sc. 7. v. 20.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Thine honor - i. e., “The grace and freshness of thy youth” (compare Hosea 14:6; Daniel 10:8). The thought of this is to guard the young man against the sins that stain and mar it. The slave of lust sacrifices “years” that might have been peaceful and happy to one who is merciless.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 5:9. Lest thou give thine honour — The character of a debauchee is universally detested: by this, even those of noble blood lose their honour and respect.

Thy years unto the cruel — Though all the blandishments of love dwell on the tongue, and the excess of fondness appear in the whole demeanour of the harlot and the prostitute; yet cruelty has its throne in their hearts; and they will rob and murder (when it appears to answer their ends) those who give their strength, their wealth, and their years to them. The unfaithful wife has often murdered her own husband for the sake of her paramour, and has given him over to justice in order to save herself. Murders have often taken place in brothels, as well as robberies; for the vice of prostitution is one of the parents of cruelty.


 
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