Proverbs 5
1 My son, attend to my wisdom. And bow thine ear to my understanding;
My son, attend to my wisdom. Incline thine ear to my understanding,
2 That thou mayest keep discretion, And that thy lips may preserve knowledge!
that thou may preserve discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
3 Truly, the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;
For the lips of an interloping woman drop 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 bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death. Her steps take hold on Sheol, (Sheol h7585)
6 That she may not ponder the way of life, Her paths waver when she heedeth it not.
so that she does not find the level path of life. Her ways are unstable, and she does not know.
7 Hear me now, therefore, O children! And turn not away from the words of my mouth!
Now therefore, ye sons, hearken to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8 Remove thy way far from her. And come not nigh the door of her house:
Remove thy way far from her, and do not come near the door of her house,
9 Lest thou give thy bloom to others, And thy years to a cruel one;
lest thou give thine honor to others, and thy years to the cruel,
10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, And thine earnings be in the house of an alien;
lest strangers be filled with thy strength, and thy labors be in the house of an alien,
11 And lest thou mourn in thy latter end. When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
and thou mourn at thy latter end when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 And say, “How have I hated instruction! And how hath my heart despised reproof!
and say, How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof.
13 I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to my instructors;
Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!
14 I have well-nigh fallen into utter misery; In the midst of the congregation and the assembly.”
I was almost in all evil in the midst of the assembly and congregation.
15 Drink water out of thine own cistern. And running water out of thine own well:
Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
16 So shall thy fountains overflow in the streets, In the wide streets, as streams of water;
Should thy springs be dispersed abroad, and streams of water in the streets?
17 They shall belong to thee alone, And not to strangers with thee;
Let them be for thyself alone, and not for strangers with thee.
18 And thy fountain shall be blessed, Yea, thou shalt have joy in the wife of thy youth.
Let thy fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of thy youth:
19 A lovely hind, a graceful doe, Her breasts shall satisfy thee at all times, And thou shalt be always ravished with her love.
a loving hind and a pleasant doe. Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times, and be thou ravished always with her love.
20 Why, then, my son, wilt thou be ravished with a wanton, And embrace the bosom of a stranger?
For why should thou, my son, be ravished with an interloping woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And he weigheth well all his paths.
For the ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah, and he makes level all his paths.
22 His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked; Yea, he shall be held fast by the cords of his own sins.
His own iniquities shall take a wicked man, and he shall be held with the cords of his sin.
23 He shall die for want of instruction; Yea, through the greatness of his folly he shall stagger.
He shall die for lack of instruction. And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
