Proverbs 5
1 My son, attend to my wisdom, and bow thy ear to my understanding:
My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ears to my understanding,
2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
so you may learn about discretion and your lips may protect knowledge.
3 For the lips of an adulteress drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
For the lips of an adulteress drip with honey and 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, cutting like a sharp sword.
Her feet go down to death; her steps go all the way to Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are unstable, that thou canst not know them.
She gives no thought to the path of life. Her footsteps wander; she does not know where she is going.
7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Now, my sons, listen to me; do not turn away from listening to the words of my mouth.
8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not near the door of her house:
Keep your path far away from her and do not come near the door of her house.
9 Lest thou give thy honour to others, and thy years to the cruel:
In that way you will not give away your honor to others or years of your life to a cruel person;
10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
strangers will not feast on your wealth; what you have worked for will not go into the house of strangers.
11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body waste away.
12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
You will say, “How I hated instruction and my heart despised correction!
13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined my ear to them that instructed me!
I would not obey my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.
14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
I was almost completely ruined in the midst of the assembly, among the gathering of the people.”
15 Drink waters out of thy own cistern, and running waters out of thy own well.
Drink water from your own cistern and drink running water from your own well.
16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
Should your springs overflow everywhere and your streams of water flow in the public squares?
17 Let them be only thy own, and not for strangers with thee.
Let them be for yourself alone and not for strangers with you.
18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
May your fountain be blessed and may you 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.
for she is a loving deer and a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; may you be continually intoxicated by her love.
20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with an adulteress, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
For why should you, my son, be captivated by an adulteress; why should you embrace the breasts of an immoral woman?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.
Yahweh sees everything a person does and watches all the paths he takes.
22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be held with the cords of his sins.
A wicked person will be seized by his own iniquities; the cords of his sin will hold him tight.
23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
He will die because he lacks instruction; he is led astray by his great foolishness.
