Proverbs 6:23-29

Warnings Against Adultery

23 For the commandment is q a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the r reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
 24 to preserve you from the evil woman, 1
from the smooth tongue of s the adulteress. 2
25 t Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her u eyelashes;
 26 for v the price of a prostitute is only w a loaf of bread, 3
but a married woman 4 x hunts down a precious life.
 27 Can a man carry y fire next to his z chest
and his clothes not be burned?
 28 Or can one a walk on hot coals
and his feet not be scorched?
 29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife;
none who touches her b will go unpunished.

  1. Cross References
    Psalms 119:105
    Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
    Psalms 13:3
    Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.
  2. Cross References
    Proverbs 10:17
    Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.
  3. Cross References
    Proverbs 2:16
    So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words.
  4. Cross References
    Matthew 5:28
    But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
  5. Cross References
    2 Kings 9:30
    When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the window.
  6. Cross References
    Proverbs 29:3
    He who loves wisdom makes his father glad, but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.
  7. Cross References
    Proverbs 28:21
    To show partiality is not good, but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong.
    1 Samuel 2:36
    And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, "Please put me in one of the priests' places, that I may eat a morsel of bread."'
  8. Cross References
    Ezekiel 13:18
    And say, Thus says the Lord God : Woe to the women who sew magic bands upon all wrists, and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in the hunt for souls! Will you hunt down souls belonging to my people and keep your own souls alive?
  9. Cross References
    Job 31:12
    For that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my increase.
  10. Cross References
    Psalms 79:12
    Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
  11. Cross References
    Isaiah 43:2
    When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
  12. Cross References
    Proverbs 16:5
    Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord ; be assured, he will not go unpunished.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.