Avoiding Immorality (Leviticus 20:10–21; 1 Corinthians 5:1–8)
1 Brenton My son, attend to my wisdom, and apply thine ear to my words;BSB BSB: My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight,
2 Brenton that thou mayest keep good understanding, and the discretion of my lips gives thee a charge. Give no heed to a worthless woman; BSB BSB: that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.
3 Brenton for honey drops from the lips of a harlot, who for a season pleases thy palate: BSB BSB: Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
4 Brenton but afterwards thou wilt find her more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword. BSB BSB: in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Brenton For the feet of folly lead those who deal with her down to the grave with death; and her steps are not established. BSB BSB: Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol.
6 Brenton For she goes not upon the paths of life; but her ways are slippery, and not easily known. BSB BSB: She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable.
7 Brenton Now then, my son, hear me, and make not my words of none effect. BSB BSB: So now, my sons, listen to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth.
8 Brenton Remove thy way far from her; draw not near to the doors of her house: BSB BSB: Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,
9 Brenton lest thou give away thy life to others, and thy substance to the merciless: BSB BSB: lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel;
10 Brenton lest strangers be filled with thy strength, and thy labours come into the houses of strangers; BSB BSB: lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner.
11 Brenton and thou repent at last, when the flesh of thy body is consumed, BSB BSB: At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are spent,
12 Brenton and thou shalt say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart avoided reproofs! BSB BSB: and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!
13 Brenton I heard not the voice of him that instructed me, and taught me, neither did I apply mine ear. BSB BSB: I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors.
14 Brenton I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. BSB BSB: I am on the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.”
15 Brenton Drink waters out of thine own vessels, and out of thine own springing wells. BSB BSB: Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.
16 Brenton Let not waters out of thy fountain be spilt by thee, but let thy waters go into thy streets. BSB BSB: Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?
17 Brenton Let them be only thine own, and let no stranger partake with thee. BSB BSB: Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.
18 Brenton Let thy fountain of water be truly thine own; and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. BSB BSB: May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
19 Brenton Let thy loving hart and thy graceful colt company with thee, and let her be considered thine own, and be with thee at all times; for ravished with her love thou shalt be greatly increased. BSB BSB: A loving doe, a graceful fawn—may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever.
20 Brenton Be not intimate with a strange woman, neither fold thyself in the arms of a woman not thine own. BSB BSB: Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 Brenton For the ways of a man are before the eyes of God, and he looks on all his paths. BSB BSB: For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths.
22 Brenton Iniquities ensnare a man, and every one is bound in the chains of his own sins. BSB BSB: The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
23 Brenton Such a man dies with the uninstructed; and he is cast forth from the abundance of his own substance, and has perished through folly. BSB BSB: He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.