Proverbs 5
1 My son, attend unto my wisdom, incline thine ear to my understanding;
My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen carefully as I explain what makes sense,
2 that thou mayest keep reflection, and that thy lips may preserve knowledge.
so you can make good decisions and protect knowledge with your lips.
3 For the lips of the strange woman drop honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil;
For the lips of an immoral woman may taste as sweet as honey, the kisses of her mouth may be as smooth as oil,
4 but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
but in the end what you get from her is the bitterness of wormwood and the sharp pain of being cut with a two-edged sword.
She leads you down to death; she takes you down to the grave. (Sheol h7585)
6 Lest she should ponder the path of life, her ways wander, she knoweth not [whither].
She doesn't follow the path that leads to life—she wanders away and doesn't even know she's lost.
7 And now, children, hearken unto me, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Now, my son, listen to me; don't reject what I have taught you.
8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
Stay far away from her! Don't go near the door of her house!
9 lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel;
Otherwise you'll surrender your honor to others, and your character to cruel people.
10 lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, and the fruits of thy toil [come] into the house of a stranger;
Strangers will spend your wealth; everything you've worked for will go to someone else.
11 and thou mourn in thine end, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed;
When you come to the end of your life you'll moan in pain as disease destroys your body.
12 and thou say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof!
You'll say, “How I used to hate discipline, and my mind rebelled against being corrected!
13 and I have not hearkened unto the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to those that instructed me;
I didn't listen to what my teacher said. I didn't pay attention to my instructors.
14 I was well nigh in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
Now I'm on the verge of being completely disgraced before everyone in the community.”
15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.
16 Thy fountains shall be poured forth, as water-brooks in the broadways.
Why should your springs be spilled outside, your streams of water poured out in the streets?
17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
Keep them for yourselves alone. They're not for you to share with strangers.
18 Let thy fountain be blessed; and have joy of the wife of thy youth.
May your spring of water be blessed, and may you enjoy the wife you married when you were young.
19 As a lovely hind and a graceful roe, let her breasts satisfy thee at all times: be thou ravished continually with her love.
May she be to you a loving deer, a graceful doe. May her breasts always be intoxicating to you; may you be drunk on her love forever.
20 And why shouldest thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
Why, my son, become intoxicated with an immoral woman? Why embrace the breasts of a woman who acts like a prostitute?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah, and he pondereth all his paths.
For the Lord sees everything people do, the Lord investigates everywhere they go.
22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.
The wicked are trapped by their evil actions; the cords of their sins tie them up.
23 He shall die for want of discipline; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
They will die because they lack self-control, lost because of their great stupidity.
