Avoiding Immorality (Leviticus 20:10–21; 1 Corinthians 5:1–8)
1 UEB My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ears to my understanding, BSB BSB: My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight,
2 UEB so you may learn about discretion and your lips may protect knowledge. BSB BSB: that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.
3 UEB For the lips of an adulteress drip with honey and her mouth is smoother than oil, BSB BSB: Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
4 UEB but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, cutting like a sharp sword. BSB BSB: in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 UEB Her feet go down to death; her steps go all the way to Sheol. BSB BSB: Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol.
6 UEB She gives no thought to the path of life. Her footsteps wander; she does not know where she is going. BSB BSB: She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable.
7 UEB Now, my sons, listen to me; do not turn away from listening to the words of my mouth. BSB BSB: So now, my sons, listen to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth.
8 UEB Keep your path far away from her and do not come near the door of her house. BSB BSB: Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,
9 UEB In that way you will not give away your honor to others or years of your life to a cruel person; BSB BSB: lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel;
10 UEB strangers will not feast on your wealth; what you have worked for will not go into the house of strangers. BSB BSB: lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner.
11 UEB At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body waste away. BSB BSB: At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are spent,
12 UEB You will say, "How I hated instruction and my heart despised correction! BSB BSB: and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!
13 UEB I would not obey my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors. BSB BSB: I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors.
14 UEB I was almost completely ruined in the midst of the assembly, among the gathering of the people." BSB BSB: I am on the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.”
15 UEB Drink water from your own cistern and drink running water from your own well. BSB BSB: Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.
16 UEB Should your springs overflow everywhere and your streams of water flow in the public squares? BSB BSB: Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?
17 UEB Let them be for yourself alone and not for strangers with you. BSB BSB: Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.
18 UEB May your fountain be blessed and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth, BSB BSB: May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
19 UEB for she is a loving deer and a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; may you be continually intoxicated by her love. BSB BSB: A loving doe, a graceful fawn—may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever.
20 UEB For why should you, my son, be captivated by an adulteress; why should you embrace the breasts of an immoral woman? BSB BSB: Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 UEB Yahweh sees everything a person does and watches all the paths he takes. BSB BSB: For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths.
22 UEB A wicked person will be seized by his own iniquities; the cords of his sin will hold him tight. BSB BSB: The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
23 UEB He will die because he lacks instruction; he is led astray by his great foolishness. 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.