Immerse: Poets Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 218
206
IMMERSE
•
POETS
feet that race to do wrong,
a false witness who pours out lies,
a person who sows discord in a family.
My son, obey your father’s commands,
and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
Keep their words always in your heart.
Tie them around your neck.
When you walk, their counsel will lead you.
When you sleep, they will protect you.
When you wake up, they will advise you.
For their command is a lamp
and their instruction a light;
their corrective discipline
is the way to life.
It will keep you from the immoral woman,
from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman.
Don’t lust for her beauty.
Don’t let her coy glances seduce you.
For a prostitute will bring you to poverty,
but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life.
Can a man scoop a flame into his lap
and not have his clothes catch on fire?
Can he walk on hot coals
and not blister his feet?
So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife.
He who embraces her will not go unpunished.
Excuses might be found for a thief
who steals because he is starving.
But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what
he stole,
even if he has to sell everything in his house.
But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool,
for he destroys himself.
He will be wounded and disgraced.
His shame will never be erased.
For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious,
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
He will accept no compensation,
nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.
6:19-35
