For the levy of the prostitute is poverty,
A prostitute may reduce a man to a loaf of bread, but an adulteress hunts for a precious life.
This verse warns that sexual sin strips away both substance and self.
20My son, keep your father’s commandment, 21Bind them always upon your heart; 22When you walk, they will guide you; 23For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light, 24to keep you from the evil woman, 25Do not lust in your heart for her beauty 26For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, 27Can a man embrace fire 28Can a man walk on hot coals 29So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; 30Men do not despise the thief 31Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; 32He who commits adultery lacks judgment; 33Wounds and dishonor will befall him, 34For jealousy enrages a husband, 35He will not be appeased by any ransom,