Warnings against Adultery

20 My son, keep your father’s commandment,

and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

21 Bind them always upon your heart;

tie them around your neck.

22 When you walk, they will guide you;

when you lie down, they will watch over you;

when you awake, they will speak to you.

23 For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light,

and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life,

24 to keep you from the evil woman,

from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.[fn]

25 Do not lust in your heart for her beauty

or let her captivate you with her eyes.[fn]

26 For the levy of the prostitute is poverty,[fn]

and the adulteress preys upon your very life.

27 Can a man embrace fire

and his clothes not be burned?

28 Can a man walk on hot coals

without scorching his feet?

29 So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife;

no one who touches her will go unpunished.

30 Men do not despise the thief

if he steals to satisfy his hunger.

31 Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold;

he must give up all the wealth of his house.

32 He who commits adultery lacks judgment;

whoever does so destroys himself.

33 Wounds and dishonor will befall him,

and his reproach will never be wiped away.

34 For jealousy enrages a husband,

and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.

35 He will not be appeased by any ransom,

or persuaded by lavish gifts.