Proverbs 5
1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding,
My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight,
2 that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.
that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.
3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,
Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
4 but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
6 She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it.
She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable.
7 Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth.
So now, my sons, listen to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth.
8 Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house,
Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,
9 lest you give your honour to others, and your years to the cruel one;
lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel;
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labours enrich another man’s house.
lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner.
11 You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are spent,
12 and say, “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof.
and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!
13 I haven’t obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!
I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors.
14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin, amongst the gathered assembly.”
I am on the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.”
15 Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.
Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.
16 Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.
Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.
18 Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
19 A loving doe and a graceful deer— let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.
A loving doe, a graceful fawn— may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever.
20 For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?
Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 For the ways of man are before the LORD’s eyes. He examines all his paths.
For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths.
22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
23 He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.
He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.
