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February 8, 2025 – Proverbs 5:1-23, “The Forbidden Woman . . .”

Proverbs 5:1-23

Proverbs 15:1-14

“1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen closely to my understanding 2 so that you may maintain discretion and your lips safeguard knowledge. 3 Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her words are smoother than oil, 4 in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a double-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps head straight for Sheol. 6 She doesn’t consider the path of life; she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable. 7 So now, sons, listen to me, and don’t turn away from the words from my mouth. 8 Keep your way far from her. Don’t go near the door of her house. 9 Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others and your years to someone cruel; 10 strangers will drain your resources, and your hard-earned pay will end up in a foreigner’s house. 11 At the end of your life, you will lament when your physical body has been consumed, 12 and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and how my heart despised correction. 13 I didn’t obey my teachers or listen closely to my instructors. 14 I am on the verge of complete ruin before the entire community.”

Study Questions:

(vs. 1-2) What does the father ask the son to do in verse 1? What is his reason for asking the son to do these things? How can knowledge and discretion be lost?

(v. 3) Why might the woman be forbidden?

(vs. 3-6) Describe the forbidden woman. Why is there such a difference between the way the woman initially acts and appears and how she ends up being in reality?

(v. 6) What is the woman’s problem? Why might she have this problem? What is the path of life described here?

(v. 8) What is the father’s advice to the son in verse 8? Practically, what does this look like for us today?

(vs. 9-14) Describe what will happen to a man if he does not avoid the forbidden woman. What will the man lament about and tell himself at the end of his life?

Proverbs 5:15-23

“15 Drink water from your own cistern, water flowing from your own well. 16 Should your springs flow in the streets, streams in the public squares? 17 They should be for you alone and not for you to share with strangers. 18 Let your fountain be blessed, and take pleasure in the wife of your youth. 19 A loving deer, a graceful doe— let her breasts always satisfy you; be lost in her love forever. 20 Why, my son, would you lose yourself with a forbidden woman or embrace a wayward woman? 21 For a man’s ways are before the Lord’s eyes, and he considers all his paths. 22 A wicked man’s iniquities will trap him; he will become tangled in the ropes of his own sin. 23 He will die because there is no discipline, and be lost because of his great stupidity.”

Study Questions:

(v. 15) What should a man do instead of being intimate with a forbidden woman? What is drinking water equated to here?

(vs. 16-17) Should a man share publicly what is supposed to be kept privately and personally with his wife? Why?

(v. 18) Is sex considered a blessing? When and with whom is sex a blessing? Is sex only for procreation? Why?

(v. 19) How is the wife described? With whom is a man supposed to find his sexual satisfaction? How can you invest in your relationship with your wife so that she remains the woman you love forever?

(v. 21) What can the Lord see? What does the Lord consider?

(vs. 22-23) What do a wicked man’s sins and iniquities do to him? What is the reason for his death?

Ponder this week:

1. How are you investing in your relationship with your wife? How does she know she is loved? Ask your wife how the two of you could improve your relationship.

2. How are you protecting yourself from the forbidden woman? Who can you be accountable to?

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