Proverbs 5
1 My son, attend to my wisdom, and incline thy ear to my prudence.
My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding,
2 That thou mayst keep thoughts, and thy lips may preserve instruction. Mind not the deceit of a woman.
that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.
3 For the lips of a harlot are like a honeycomb dropping, and her throat is smoother than oil.
For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,
4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edged sword.
but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol (Sheol h7585).
6 They walk not by the path of life, her steps are wandering, and unaccountable.
She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she does not know it.
7 Now therefore, my son, hear me, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the doors of her house.
Remove your way far from her. Do not come near the door of her house,
9 Give not thy honour to strangers, and thy years to the cruel.
lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;
10 Lest strangers be filled with thy strength, and thy labours be in another man’s house,
lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man’s house.
11 And thou mourn it the last, when thou shalt have spent thy flesh and thy body, and say:
You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
12 Why have I hated instruction, and my heart consented not to reproof,
and say, “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof.
13 And have not heard the voice of them that taught me, and have not inclined my ear to masters?
I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!
14 I have almost been in all evil, in the midst of the church and of the congregation.
I have come to the brink of utter ruin, among the gathered assembly.”
15 Drink water out of thy own cistern, and the streams of thy own well:
Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.
16 Let thy fountains be conveyed abroad, and in the streets divide thy waters.
Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
17 Keep them to thyself alone, neither let strangers be partakers with thee.
Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.
18 Let thy vein be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth:
Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 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.
A loving doe and a graceful deer— let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.
20 Why art thou seduced, my son, by a strange woman, and art cherished in the bosom of another?
For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?
21 The Lord beholdeth the ways of man, and considereth all his steps.
For the ways of man are before the LORD’s eyes. He examines all his paths.
22 His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is fast bound with the ropes of his own sins.
The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
23 He shall die, because he hath not received instruction, and in the multitude of his folly he shall be deceived.
He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.
