Proverbs 5:1-23 VOICE

[1] My son, stay focused; listen to the wisdom I have gained; give attention to what I have learned about life [2] So you may be able to make sensible judgments and speak with knowledge. [3] You see, the lips of a seductive woman speak honey-sweet words; they are smooth like oil and enticing. [4] But in the end, she is bitter, turning the stomach and rotting the soul; she cuts as deep as a double-edged sword. [5] She leads you down a path that can only end in death; her steps lead eventually to the grave. [6] She does not travel the road to life and truth. She follows a wandering path- a rocky, pit-filled road that twists and turns-and she doesn't even know it. [7] So, my children, listen to me. Do not stray from my advice. [8] Stay away from her, far away from her path; don't even go near her door [9] Unless you are ready to hand over your reputation to someone else, unless you want to spend the rest of your years at the mercy of some cruel person. [10] If you do, strangers will help themselves to your wealth, and everything you have worked hard to acquire will end up in someone else's hands. [11] Your life will end with groanings of remorse, of opportunities missed, and your flesh and bones will be eaten up with sorrow, regret for worthless efforts. [12] Then you'll say, "Why did I hate being taught? Why did I turn my back on correction? [13] I disregarded all that my teachers said to me; I turned my ear away from my instructors! [14] Now I am on the edge of complete and utter ruin in the midst of the community." [15] Here's what you should do to be satisfied: go home and drink in the pleasures of your own cistern, your wife; enjoy the sweet, fresh water that has been there all along, flowing from your own well. [16] Take care. Should your own springs, your body, be freely shared? Should your streams of water satisfy anyone in the streets? Absolutely not! [17] They should be kept pure for you and you alone, not for sharing with strangers. [18] May your fountain, your sex life, be blessed by God; may you know true joy with the wife of your youth. [19] She who is lovely as a deer and graceful as a doe- as you drink in her love, may her breasts satisfy you at all times. [20] My son, why get caught up in some other woman and embrace the breast of a stranger? [21] You see, the Eternal sees our ways before Him. He watches every move we make and knows where those paths lead. [22] The wicked will be snared by their own wrongdoing. Their flaws will tie their own hands, and they will be dragged through life by the cords of their sins. [23] Because they have no discipline, their spirits die and their bodies will soon follow; because they are immensely foolish, they wander lost and confused.