Proverbs 5
1 [My] son, attend to my wisdom, and apply thine ear to my words;
My son, attend to my wisdom, and incline thy ear to my prudence.
2 that thou mayest keep good understanding, and the discretion of my lips gives thee a charge. Give no heed to a worthless woman;
That thou mayst keep thoughts, and thy lips may preserve instruction. Mind not the deceit of a woman.
3 for honey drops from the lips of a harlot, who for a season pleases thy palate:
For the lips of a harlot are like a honeycomb dropping, and her throat is smoother than oil.
4 but afterwards thou wilt find her more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword.
But her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 For the feet of folly lead those who deal with her down to the grave with death; and her steps are not established. (Sheol h7585)
Her feet go down into death, and her steps go in as far as hell. (Sheol h7585)
6 For she goes not upon the paths of life; but her ways are slippery, and not easily known.
They walk not by the path of life, her steps are wandering, and unaccountable.
7 Now then, [my] son, hear me, and make not my words of none effect.
Now therefore, my son, hear me, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
8 Remove thy way far from her; draw not near to the doors of her house:
Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the doors of her house.
9 lest thou give away thy life to others, and thy substance to the merciless:
Give not thy honour to strangers, and thy years to the cruel.
10 lest strangers be filled with thy strength, and thy labours come into the houses of strangers;
Lest strangers be filled with thy strength, and thy labours be in another man’s house,
11 And thou repent at last, when the flesh of thy body is consumed,
And thou mourn it the last, when thou shalt have spent thy flesh and thy body, and say:
12 and thou shalt say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart avoided reproofs!
Why have I hated instruction, and my heart consented not to reproof,
13 I heard not the voice of him that instructed me, and taught me, neither did I apply mine ear.
And have not heard the voice of them that taught me, and have not inclined my ear to masters?
14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
I have almost been in all evil, in the midst of the church and of the congregation.
15 Drink waters out of thine own vessels, and out of thine own springing wells.
Drink water out of thy own cistern, and the streams of thy own well:
16 Let not waters out of thy fountain be spilt by thee, but let thy waters go into thy streets.
Let thy fountains be conveyed abroad, and in the streets divide thy waters.
17 Let them be only thine own, and let no stranger partake with thee.
Keep them to thyself alone, neither let strangers be partakers with thee.
18 Let thy fountain of water be [truly] thine own; and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
Let thy vein be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth:
19 Let [thy] loving hart and thy graceful colt company with thee, and let her be considered thine own, and be with thee at all times; for ravished with her love thou shalt be greatly increased.
Let her be thy dearest hind, and most agreeable fawn: let her breasts inebriate thee at all times; he thou delighted continually with her love.
20 Be not intimate with a strange woman, neither fold thyself in the arms of a woman not thine own.
Why art thou seduced, my son, by a strange woman, and art cherished in the bosom of another?
21 For the ways of a man are before the eyes of God, and he looks on all his paths.
The Lord beholdeth the ways of man, and considereth all his steps.
22 Iniquities ensnare a man, and every one is bound in the chains of his own sins.
His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is fast bound with the ropes of his own sins.
23 Such a man dies with the uninstructed; and he is cast forth from the abundance of his own substance, and has perished through folly.
He shall die, because he hath not received instruction, and in the multitude of his folly he shall be deceived.
