UBF Daily Bread

PEOPLE DIE FOR LACK OF DISCIPLINE

Passage: Proverbs 5:1~23

Key verse: 21,23

Warning Against Adultery

5 My son,^(A) pay attention to my wisdom,
    turn your ear to my words^(B) of insight,
²that you may maintain discretion
    and your lips may preserve knowledge.
³For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
    and her speech is smoother than oil;^(C)
⁴but in the end she is bitter as gall,^(D)
    sharp as a double-edged sword.
⁵Her feet go down to death;
    her steps lead straight to the grave.^(E)
⁶She gives no thought to the way of life;
    her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.^(F)

⁷Now then, my sons, listen^(G) to me;
    do not turn aside from what I say.
⁸Keep to a path far from her,^(H)
    do not go near the door of her house,
⁹lest you lose your honor to others
    and your dignity^[a] to one who is cruel,
¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth
    and your toil enrich the house of another.^(I)
¹¹At the end of your life you will groan,
    when your flesh and body are spent.
¹²You will say, “How I hated discipline!
    How my heart spurned correction!^(J)
¹³I would not obey my teachers
    or turn my ear to my instructors.
¹⁴And I was soon in serious trouble^(K)
    in the assembly of God’s people.”^(L)

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern,
    running water from your own well.
¹⁶Should your springs overflow 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^(M) be blessed,
    and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.^(N)
¹⁹A loving doe, a graceful deer^(O)—
    may her breasts satisfy you always,
    may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
²⁰Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
    Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

²¹For your ways are in full view^(P) of the Lord,
    and he examines^(Q) all your paths.^(R)
²²The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;^(S)
    the cords of their sins hold them fast.^(T)
²³For lack of discipline they will die,^(U)
    led astray by their own great folly.^(V)

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Footnotes

Proverbs 5:9 Or years

1. Don't hate discipline (1-14)

Many people think they are being honest when they live according to their feelings. But our all-wise Father God warns us that illicit love affairs and/or promiscuous lifestyles are not only foolish, but they lead to death (5). Those who hate discipline and whose hearts spurn correction someday will be full of regret (12).

2. Drink water from your own cistern (15-23)

There is great peace and satisfaction of soul when we learn joyfully to accept the life God has given us. When we do things that we know are wrong, thinking that no one is watching, we may be sure that our ways are in full view of the Lord (21). One who thinks that he is expressing his freedom when he sins, finds that the cords of his own sin hold him fast, and that he dies for lack of discipline (22,23).

Prayer: Lord, teach me to discipline my heart and my words and my actions, and live according to your word, rather than by my own fickle feelings.

One Word: Exercise discipline--live in God's sight