The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit; He who is abhorred by the Lord will fall there.
Parallel translations
- WEB The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit. He who is under Yahweh’s wrath will fall into it.
- KJV The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.
- BSB The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.
- NASB The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; He who is cursed of the Lord will fall into it.
- NLT The mouth of an immoral woman is a dangerous trap; those who make the Lord angry will fall into it.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The seductive speech of an immoral woman is a deep pit; the ungodly fall into it. It matters as a warning against sexual sin and its entrapment.
Overview
The flattering words of an adulteress are a deadly trap, and those under God's judgment fall in (Proverbs 2:16-19; 5:3-5). The verse warns of the destructive power of sexual temptation. It echoes Proverbs' larger call to flee immorality and cling to wisdom, which guards the way of life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Eccl 7:26I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and traps, whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her; but the sinner will be ensnared by her.
- Prov 23:27For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
- Prov 6:24–29to keep you from the immoral woman, from the flattery of the wayward wife’s tongue.
- Prov 7:5–27that they may keep you from the strange woman, from the foreigner who flatters with her words.
- Neh 13:26Didn’t Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations was there no king like him, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless foreign women caused even him to sin.
- Judg 16:20–21She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He awoke out of his sleep, and said, “I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.” But he didn’t know that Yahweh had departed from him.
- Prov 2:16–19To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words;
- Prov 5:3–23For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,
- Deut 32:19Yahweh saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
- Ps 81:12So I let them go after the stubbornness of their hearts, that they might walk in their own counsels.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 22:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.