Proverbs 5
1 My son, attend unto my wisdom, incline thine ear to my understanding;
My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ears to my understanding,
2 that thou mayest keep reflection, and that thy lips may preserve knowledge.
so you may learn about discretion and your lips may protect knowledge.
3 For the lips of the strange woman drop honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil;
For the lips of an adulteress drip with honey and her mouth is smoother than oil,
4 but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, cutting like a sharp sword.
Her feet go down to death; her steps go all the way to Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
6 Lest she should ponder the path of life, her ways wander, she knoweth not [whither].
She gives no thought to the path of life. Her footsteps wander; she does not know where she is going.
7 And now, children, hearken unto me, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Now, my sons, listen to me; do not turn away from listening to the words of my mouth.
8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
Keep your path far away from her and do not come near the door of her house.
9 lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel;
In that way you will not give away your honor to others or years of your life to a cruel person;
10 lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, and the fruits of thy toil [come] into the house of a stranger;
strangers will not feast on your wealth; what you have worked for will not go into the house of strangers.
11 and thou mourn in thine end, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed;
At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body waste away.
12 and thou say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof!
You will say, “How I hated instruction and my heart despised correction!
13 and I have not hearkened unto the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to those that instructed me;
I would not obey my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.
14 I was well nigh in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
I was almost completely ruined in the midst of the assembly, among the gathering of the people.”
15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
Drink water from your own cistern and drink running water from your own well.
16 Thy fountains shall be poured forth, as water-brooks in the broadways.
Should your springs overflow everywhere and your streams of water flow in the public squares?
17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
Let them be for yourself alone and not for strangers with you.
18 Let thy fountain be blessed; and have joy of the wife of thy youth.
May your fountain be blessed and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth,
19 As a lovely hind and a graceful roe, let her breasts satisfy thee at all times: be thou ravished continually with her love.
for she is a loving deer and a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; may you be continually intoxicated by her love.
20 And why shouldest thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
For why should you, my son, be captivated by an adulteress; why should you embrace the breasts of an immoral woman?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah, and he pondereth all his paths.
Yahweh sees everything a person does and watches all the paths he takes.
22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.
A wicked person will be seized by his own iniquities; the cords of his sin will hold him tight.
23 He shall die for want of discipline; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
He will die because he lacks instruction; he is led astray by his great foolishness.
