¹ My son, pay attention to my wisdom,
   turn your ear to my words of insight,
² that you may maintain discretion
   and your lips may preserve knowledge.
³ For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
   and her speech is smoother than oil;
⁴ but in the end she is bitter as gall,
   sharp as a double-edged sword.
⁵ Her feet go down to death;
   her steps lead straight to the grave.
⁶ She gives no thought to the way of life;
   her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.

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

 ¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern,
   running water from your own well.
¹⁶ Should your springs overflow in the streets,
   your streams of water in the public squares?
¹⁷ Let them be yours alone,
   never to be shared with strangers.
¹⁸ May your fountain be blessed,
   and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
¹⁹ A loving doe, a graceful deer—
   may her breasts satisfy you always,
   may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
²⁰ Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
   Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

 ²¹ For your ways are in full view of the LORD,
   and he examines all your paths.
²² The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;
   the cords of their sins hold them fast.
²³ For lack of discipline they will die,
   led astray by their own great folly.

Sex is Good

God’s people have such a poor reputation for great sex.  The sex that is presented to us as great is passionate and non-committal.  It is not intimate but self-satisfying.  Two people do not open to themselves from the core of their being.  On person takes from the other an experience that lacks lasting significance.  Within a marriage true disclosure of soul, mind and body occurs.  The unity of sex is a bond that equals the bond that exists in the mind and the emotions of lovers committed to each other for the long haul.  The honeyed words of an adulteress promise much, but they will turn bitter as the affair fades.  This is not the way of wisdom.  Wisdom builds a sexual union that will last and produce fruit that contrasts the regret some feel in their old age. 

Questions

1. What does the adulteress promise?
2. What does she deliver?
3. What does marriage deliver?
4. How is your sex life?  Is it appropriate for your stage in life?
5. How is complete sexual union of mind, body, and spirit available in marriage?