Proverbs 5
1 My son, listen carefully to some [more] wise things that I will tell you. Listen well to what I am going to teach you.
My son, attend to my wisdom. And bow thine ear to my understanding;
2 If you do that, you will be able to choose wisely [what to do], and you will know [the right things] to say [MTY].
That thou mayest keep discretion, And that thy lips may preserve knowledge!
3 What an immoral woman says [to you may be] as sweet as honey, and sound smoother than olive oil [feels on your skin],
Truly, the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;
4 but the result [of being with her] will be bitter like gall and [injure you as badly], like being cut with a sharp two-edged sword.
But her end is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 If you go where she goes [MTY], you will go down to where the dead people are. Her steps will lead you straight to the grave. (Sheol h7585)
Her feet go down to death; Her steps lay hold of the under-world. (Sheol h7585)
6 She is not concerned about the roads that lead to a [long] life. She walks [down] a crooked path, and she does not realize [that she is on the wrong road].
That she may not ponder the way of life, Her paths waver when she heedeth it not.
7 So now, my sons, listen to me. (Never turn aside from/always remember) [LIT] what I am about to tell you.
Hear me now, therefore, O children! And turn not away from the words of my mouth!
8 Run away from immoral women! Do not go near the doors of their houses!
Remove thy way far from her. And come not nigh the door of her house:
9 If you enter the home of one of them, you will lose your (self-respect/good reputation) and [that woman’s husband] will not act mercifully toward you; he will [kill you and] take everything that you have acquired during your life!
Lest thou give thy bloom to others, And thy years to a cruel one;
10 Foreigners will take your money, and [all] the good things that you have worked for will (end up in their hands/become their possessions).
Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, And thine earnings be in the house of an alien;
11 And when you are about to die, you will groan [with severe pain] because diseases [that you have gotten from being immoral] will be destroying your body.
And lest thou mourn in thy latter end. When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 Then you will say, “I hated it [when people tried to] correct me. I despised [people when they] reproved/rebuked me.
And say, “How have I hated instruction! And how hath my heart despised reproof!
13 I did not heed what my teachers said! I paid no attention to those who [tried to] teach me [something about my behavior].
I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to my instructors;
14 [Now] I am almost ruined, and I will be disgraced in public gatherings.”
I have well-nigh fallen into utter misery; In the midst of the congregation and the assembly.”
15 Like a man is refreshed by drinking water from his own well [MET], enjoy [having sex] [EUP] only with your own wife.
Drink water out of thine own cistern. And running water out of thine own well:
16 Like you would not waste good water by pouring it into the street, [you should not have sex with other women]. [MET, EUP]
So shall thy fountains overflow in the streets, In the wide streets, as streams of water;
17 Enjoy [having sex] only with your wife; do not [have sex with] other women.
They shall belong to thee alone, And not to strangers with thee;
18 Let your wife be a source of great pleasure to you. (Be happy/[Enjoy sex]) with the woman whom you married when you were both young.
And thy fountain shall be blessed, Yea, thou shalt have joy in the wife of thy youth.
19 She is as pretty and graceful [as] a young female deer. Allow her breasts to always satisfy you. Allow her lovemaking to excite you.
A lovely hind, a graceful doe, Her breasts shall satisfy thee at all times, And thou shalt be always ravished with her love.
20 My son, do not be [RHQ] captivated/charmed by an immoral woman! Do not fondle the breasts of another man’s wife!
Why, then, my son, wilt thou be ravished with a wanton, And embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 [I say that] because Yahweh sees clearly everything that we do; he knows [where we are going on] the roads that we walk on.
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And he weigheth well all his paths.
22 Evil men’s sinful desires hold them fast; their sins are [like] ropes that bind them.
His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked; Yea, he shall be held fast by the cords of his own sins.
23 Evil men [will] die because they are unable to say “No” to their desires; they [will] (go astray/be lost) because of the foolish things that they do.
He shall die for want of instruction; Yea, through the greatness of his folly he shall stagger.
