Proverbs 5
1 My sonne, hearken vnto my wisedome, and incline thine eare vnto my knowledge.
My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding,
2 That thou maiest regarde counsell, and thy lippes obserue knowledge.
that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve 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 an adulteress drip honey. 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 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 She weigheth not the way of life: her paths are moueable: thou canst not knowe them.
She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it.
7 Heare yee me nowe therefore, O children, and depart not from the wordes of my mouth.
Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth.
8 Keepe thy way farre from her, and come not neere the doore of her house,
Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house,
9 Least thou giue thine honor vnto others, and thy yeeres to the cruell:
lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;
10 Least the stranger should be silled with thy strength, and thy labours bee in the house of a stranger,
lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man’s house.
11 And thou mourne at thine end, (when thou hast consumed thy flesh and thy bodie)
You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
12 And say, How haue I hated instruction, and mine heart despised correction!
and say, “How I have 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!
I haven’t obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!
14 I was almost brought into all euil in ye mids of the Congregation and assemblie.
I have come to the brink of utter ruin, among the gathered assembly.”
15 Drinke the water of thy cisterne, and of the riuers out of the middes of thine owne well.
Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.
16 Let thy fountaines flow foorth, and the riuers of waters in the streetes.
Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
17 But let them bee thine, euen thine onely, and not the strangers with thee.
Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.
18 Let thy fountaine be blessed, and reioyce with the wife of thy youth.
Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your 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.
A loving doe and a graceful deer— let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated 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 should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?
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 Yahweh’s eyes. He examines all his paths.
22 His owne iniquities shall take the wicked himselfe, and he shall be holden with the cordes of his owne sinne.
The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
23 Hee shall die for fault of instruction, and shall goe astray through his great follie.
He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.
