Proverbs 5
1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:
My son, attend to my wisdom. And bow thine ear to my understanding;
2 that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.
That thou mayest keep discretion, And that thy lips may preserve knowledge!
3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,
Truly, the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;
4 But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
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 She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it.
That she may not ponder the way of life, Her paths waver when she heedeth it not.
7 Now therefore, son, listen to me. Do not depart from the words of my mouth.
Hear me now, therefore, O children! And turn not away from the words of my mouth!
8 Remove your way far from her. Do not come near the door of her house,
Remove thy way far from her. And come not nigh the door of her house:
9 lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the merciless;
Lest thou give thy bloom to others, And thy years to a cruel one;
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man's house.
Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, And thine earnings be in the house of an alien;
11 You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
And lest thou mourn in thy latter end. When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 and say, "How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
And say, “How have I hated instruction! And how hath my heart despised reproof!
13 neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me.
I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to my instructors;
14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly."
I have well-nigh fallen into utter misery; In the midst of the congregation and the assembly.”
15 Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.
Drink water out of thine own cistern. And running water out of thine own well:
16 Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
So shall thy fountains overflow in the streets, In the wide streets, as streams of water;
17 Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.
They shall belong to thee alone, And not to strangers with thee;
18 Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
And thy fountain shall be blessed, Yea, thou shalt have joy in the wife of thy youth.
19 A loving doe and a graceful deer—let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.
A lovely hind, a graceful doe, Her breasts shall satisfy thee at all times, And thou shalt be always ravished with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?
Why, then, my son, wilt thou be ravished with a wanton, And embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of YHWH. He examines all his paths.
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And he weigheth well all his paths.
22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked; Yea, he shall be held fast by the cords of his own sins.
23 He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.
He shall die for want of instruction; Yea, through the greatness of his folly he shall stagger.
