1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight, 2that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge. 3Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil, 4in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword. 5Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol. 6She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable. 7So now, my sons, listen to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth. 8Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house, 9lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel; 10lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner. 11At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are spent, 12and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! 13I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors. 14I am on the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.” 15Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well. 16Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? 17Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. 18May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth: 19A loving doe, a graceful fawn— may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever. 20Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger? 21For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths. 22The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him. 23He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.
Matthew Henry's Commentary
Exhortations to wisdom. The evils of licentiousness. (1-14) Remedies against licentiousness, The miserable end of the wicked. (15-23) 1-14 Solomon cautions all young men, as his children, to abstain from fleshly lusts. Some, by the adulterous woman, here understand idolatry, false doctrine, which tends to lead astray men's minds and manners; but the direct view is to warn against seventh-commandment sins. Often these have been, and still are, Satan's method of drawing men from the worship of God into false religion. Consider how fatal the consequences; how bitter the fruit! Take it any way, it wounds. It leads to the torments of hell. The direct tendency of this sin is to the destruction of body and soul. We must carefully avoid every thing which may be a step towards it. Those who would be kept from harm, must keep out of harm's way. If we thrust ourselves into temptation we mock God when we pray, Lead us not into temptation. How many mischiefs attend this sin! It blasts the reputation; it wastes time; it ruins the estate; it is destructive to health; it will fill the mind with horror. Though thou art merry now, yet sooner or later it will bring sorrow. The convinced sinner reproaches himself, and makes no excuse for his folly. By the frequent acts of sin, the habits of it become rooted and confirmed. By a miracle of mercy true repentance may prevent the dreadful consequences of such sins; but this is not often; far more die as they have lived. What can express the case of the self-ruined sinner in the eternal world, enduring the remorse of his conscience! 15-23 Lawful marriage is a means God has appointed to keep from these destructive vices. But we are not properly united, except as we attend to God's word, seeking his direction and blessing, and acting with affection. Ever remember, that though secret sins may escape the eyes of our fellow-creatures, yet a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, who not only sees, but ponders all his goings. Those who are so foolish as to choose the way of sin, are justly left of God to themselves, to go on in the way to destruction.