Listen to me,
my son! I know what I am saying: LISTEN!
2 Watch
yourself, lest you be indiscreet and betray some vital information.
3 For the
lips of a prostitute are as sweet as honey, and smooth flattery is her stock in
trade.
4 But
afterwards only a bitter conscience is left to you, sharp as a double-edged
sword.
5 She leads
you down to death and hell.
6 For she does
not know the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t even
realize where it leads.
7 Young men,
listen to me, and never forget what I am about to say:
8 Run from
her! Don’t go near her house,
9 lest you
fall to her temptation and lose your honor, and give the remainder of your life
to the cruel and merciless
10 lest
strangers obtain your wealth and you become a slave to foreigners.
11 Lest
afterwards you groan in anguish and in sham, when syphilis consumes your body,
12 and you
say, “Oh, if only I had listened! If only I had not demanded my own way!
13 Oh, why
wouldn’t I take advice? Why was I so stupid?
14 For now I
must face public disgrace.”
15 Drink from
your own well, my son – be faithful and true to your wife.
16 Why should
you beget children with women of the street?
17 Why share
your children with those outside your home?
18 Let your
manhood be a blessing; rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 Let her
charms and tender embrace satisfy you. Let her love alone fill you with
delight.
20 Why
delight yourself with prostitutes, embracing what is not yours??
21 For God is
closely watching you and He weighs carefully everything you do.
22 The wicked
man is doomed by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him.
23 He shall
die because he will not listen to the truth; he has let himself be led away
into incredible folly.
Text: Children's Living Bible, Tyndale House Publishing, 1972
Photo Credits: Google Images
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