Proverbs 5
1 MY son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding,
2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth 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, sharp as a twoedged 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 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it.
7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth.
8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house,
9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
lest you give your honour to others, and your years to the cruel one;
10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labours enrich another man’s house.
11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
and say, “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof.
13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear 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 in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
I have come to the brink of utter ruin, amongst the gathered assembly.”
15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.
16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee.
Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.
18 Let thy fountain 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 as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always 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 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.
For the ways of man are before the LORD’s eyes. He examines all his paths.
22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.
