< Proverbs 5 >
1 My sonne, hearken vnto my wisedome, and incline thine eare vnto my knowledge.
My son, attend unto my wisdom; Incline thine ear to my understanding:
2 That thou maiest regarde counsell, and thy lippes obserue knowledge.
That thou mayest preserve discretion, And that thy lips may keep knowledge.
3 For the lippes of a strange woman drop as an honie combe, and her mouth is more soft then oyle.
For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil:
4 But the end of her is bitter as wormewood, and sharpe as a two edged sworde.
But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feete goe downe to death, and her steps take holde on hell. (Sheol )
Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold on Sheol; (Sheol )
6 She weigheth not the way of life: her paths are moueable: thou canst not knowe them.
So that she findeth not the level path of life: Her ways are unstable, [and] she knoweth [it] not.
7 Heare yee me nowe therefore, O children, and depart not from the wordes of my mouth.
Now therefore, [my] sons, hearken unto me, And depart not from the words of my mouth.
8 Keepe thy way farre from her, and come not neere the doore of her house,
Remove thy way far from her, And come not nigh the door of her house;
9 Least thou giue thine honor vnto others, and thy yeeres to the cruell:
Lest thou give thine honor unto others, And thy years unto the cruel;
10 Least the stranger should be silled with thy strength, and thy labours bee in the house of a stranger,
Lest strangers be filled with thy strength, And thy labors [be] in the house of an alien,
11 And thou mourne at thine end, (when thou hast consumed thy flesh and thy bodie)
And thou mourn at thy latter end, When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 And say, How haue I hated instruction, and mine heart despised correction!
And say, How have I hated instruction, And my heart despised reproof;
13 And haue not obeied the voyce of them that taught mee, nor enclined mine eare to them that instructed me!
Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
14 I was almost brought into all euil in ye mids of the Congregation and assemblie.
I was well-nigh in all evil In the midst of the assembly and congregation.
15 Drinke the water of thy cisterne, and of the riuers out of the middes of thine owne well.
Drink waters out of thine own cistern, And running waters out of thine own well.
16 Let thy fountaines flow foorth, and the riuers of waters in the streetes.
Should thy springs be dispersed abroad, And streams of water in the streets?
17 But let them bee thine, euen thine onely, and not the strangers with thee.
Let them be for thyself alone, And not for strangers with thee.
18 Let thy fountaine be blessed, and reioyce with the wife of thy youth.
Let thy fountain be blessed; And rejoice in the wife of thy youth.
19 Let her be as the louing hinde and pleasant roe: let her brests satisfie thee at all times, and delite in her loue continually.
[As] a loving hind and a pleasant doe, Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; And be thou ravished always with her love.
20 For why shouldest thou delite, my sonne, in a strange woman, or embrace the bosome of a stranger?
For why shouldest thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?
21 For the waies of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his pathes.
For the ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah; And he maketh level all his paths.
22 His owne iniquities shall take the wicked himselfe, and he shall be holden with the cordes of his owne sinne.
His own iniquities shall take the wicked, And he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.
23 Hee shall die for fault of instruction, and shall goe astray through his great follie.
He shall die for lack of instruction; And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.