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 preserve discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
so you may learn about discretion and your lips may protect knowledge.
3 For the lips of a 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 walk the even path of life, her ways wander, but she knoweth it not.
She gives no thought to the path of life. Her footsteps wander; she does not know where she is going.
7 Now therefore, O ye 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 thy vigour 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 strength, and thy labours be in the house of an alien;
strangers will not feast on your wealth; what you have worked for will not go into the house of strangers.
11 And thou moan, when thine end cometh, 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 say: 'How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
You will say, “How I hated instruction and my heart despised correction!
13 Neither have I hearkened to the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them 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 Let thy springs be dispersed abroad, and courses of water in the streets.
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 A lovely hind and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; with her love be thou ravished always.
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 Why then wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of an alien?
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 the LORD, and He maketh even all his paths.
Yahweh sees everything a person does and watches all the paths he takes.
22 His own iniquities shall ensnare 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 lack of instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall reel.
He will die because he lacks instruction; he is led astray by his great foolishness.
