Proverbs 5
1 My son! Give attention to my wisdom, Incline your ear to my understanding,
My son, attend to my wisdom. And bow thine ear to my understanding;
2 To observe thoughtfulness, And your lips keep knowledge.
That thou mayest keep discretion, And that thy lips may preserve knowledge!
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth [is] smoother than oil,
Truly, the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;
4 And her latter end [is] bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a sword [with] mouths.
But her end is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death; Her steps lay hold of the under-world. (Sheol h7585)
6 The path of life—lest you ponder, Her paths have moved—you do not know.
That she may not ponder the way of life, Her paths waver when she heedeth it not.
7 And now, you sons, listen to me, And do not turn from sayings of my mouth.
Hear me now, therefore, O children! And turn not away from the words of my mouth!
8 Keep your way far from off her, And do not come near to the opening of her house,
Remove thy way far from her. And come not nigh the door of her house:
9 Lest you give your splendor to others, And your years to the fierce,
Lest thou give thy bloom to others, And thy years to a cruel one;
10 Lest strangers be filled [with] your power, And your labors in the house of a stranger,
Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, And thine earnings be in the house of an alien;
11 And you have howled in your latter end, In the consumption of your flesh and your food,
And lest thou mourn in thy latter end. When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 And have said, “How I have hated instruction, And my heart has despised reproof,
And say, “How have I hated instruction! And how hath my heart despised reproof!
13 And I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, And have not inclined my ear to my teachers.
I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to my instructors;
14 As a little thing I have been all evil, In the midst of an assembly and a congregation.”
I have well-nigh fallen into utter misery; In the midst of the congregation and the assembly.”
15 Drink waters out of your own cistern, Even flowing ones out of your own well.
Drink water out of thine own cistern. And running water out of thine own well:
16 Let your fountains be scattered abroad, In broad places streams of waters.
So shall thy fountains overflow in the streets, In the wide streets, as streams of water;
17 Let them be to you for yourself, And not to strangers with you.
They shall belong to thee alone, And not to strangers with thee;
18 Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice because of the wife of your youth,
And thy fountain shall be blessed, Yea, thou shalt have joy in the wife of thy youth.
19 A doe of loves, and a roe of grace! Let her loves satisfy you at all times, Magnify yourself in her love continually.
A lovely hind, a graceful doe, Her breasts shall satisfy thee at all times, And thou shalt be always ravished with her love.
20 And why do you magnify yourself, My son, with a stranger? And embrace the bosom of a strange woman?
Why, then, my son, wilt thou be ravished with a wanton, And embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 For the ways of each are before the eyes of YHWH, And He is pondering all his paths.
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And he weigheth well all his paths.
22 His own iniquities capture the wicked, And he is holden with the ropes of his sin.
His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked; Yea, he shall be held fast by the cords of his own sins.
23 He dies without instruction, And magnifies himself in the abundance of his folly!
He shall die for want of instruction; Yea, through the greatness of his folly he shall stagger.
