< Proverbs 5 >
1 My sonne, hearken vnto my wisedome, and incline thine eare vnto my knowledge.
My son! to my wisdom give attention, To mine understanding incline thine ear,
2 That thou maiest regarde counsell, and thy lippes obserue knowledge.
To observe thoughtfulness, And knowledge do thy lips keep.
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 smoother than oil [is] her mouth,
4 But the end of her is bitter as wormewood, and sharpe as a two edged sworde.
And her latter end [is] bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a sword [with] mouths.
5 Her feete goe downe to death, and her steps take holde on hell. (Sheol )
Her feet are going down to death, Sheol do her steps take hold of. (Sheol )
6 She weigheth not the way of life: her paths are moueable: thou canst not knowe them.
The path of life — lest thou ponder, Moved have her paths — thou knowest not.
7 Heare yee me nowe therefore, O children, and depart not from the wordes of my mouth.
And now, ye sons, hearken to me, And turn not from sayings of my mouth.
8 Keepe thy way farre from her, and come not neere the doore of her house,
Keep far from off her thy way, And come not near unto the opening of her house,
9 Least thou giue thine honor vnto others, and thy yeeres to the cruell:
Lest thou give to others thy honour, And thy years to the fierce,
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 power, And thy labours in the house of a stranger,
11 And thou mourne at thine end, (when thou hast consumed thy flesh and thy bodie)
And thou hast howled in thy latter end, In the consumption of thy flesh and thy food,
12 And say, How haue I hated instruction, and mine heart despised correction!
And hast said, 'How have I hated instruction, And reproof hath my heart despised,
13 And haue not obeied the voyce of them that taught mee, nor enclined mine eare to them that instructed me!
And I have not hearkened to the voice of my directors, And to my teachers have not inclined mine ear.
14 I was almost brought into all euil in ye mids of the Congregation and assemblie.
As a little thing I have been all evil, In the midst of an assembly and a company.
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, Even flowing ones out of thine own well.
16 Let thy fountaines flow foorth, and the riuers of waters in the streetes.
Let thy fountains be scattered abroad, In broad places rivulets of waters.
17 But let them bee thine, euen thine onely, and not the strangers with thee.
Let them be to thee for thyself, And not to strangers with thee.
18 Let thy fountaine be blessed, and reioyce with the wife of thy youth.
Let thy fountain be blessed, And rejoice because of 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.
A hind of loves, and a roe of grace! Let her loves satisfy thee at all times, In her love magnify thyself continually.
20 For why shouldest thou delite, my sonne, in a strange woman, or embrace the bosome of a stranger?
And why dost thou magnify thyself, My son, with a stranger? And embrace the bosom of a strange woman?
21 For the waies of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his pathes.
For over-against the eyes of Jehovah are the ways of each, And all his paths He is pondering.
22 His owne iniquities shall take the wicked himselfe, and he shall be holden with the cordes of his owne sinne.
His own iniquities do capture the wicked, And with the ropes of his sin he is holden.
23 Hee shall die for fault of instruction, and shall goe astray through his great follie.
He dieth without instruction, And in the abundance of his folly magnifieth himself!