Proverbs 5
1 My son! to my wisdom give attention, To mine understanding incline thine ear,
My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:
2 To observe thoughtfulness, And knowledge do thy lips keep.
that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And smoother than oil [is] her mouth,
For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,
4 And her latter end [is] bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a sword [with] mouths.
But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
6 The path of life — lest thou ponder, Moved have her paths — thou knowest not.
She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it.
7 And now, ye sons, hearken to me, And turn not from sayings of my mouth.
Now therefore, son, listen to me. Do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8 Keep far from off her thy way, And come not near unto the opening of her house,
Remove your way far from her. Do not come near the door of her house,
9 Lest thou give to others thy honour, And thy years to the fierce,
lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the merciless;
10 Lest strangers be filled [with] thy power, And thy labours in the house of a stranger,
lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man's house.
11 And thou hast howled in thy latter end, In the consumption of thy flesh and thy food,
You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
12 And hast said, 'How have I hated instruction, And reproof hath my heart despised,
and say, "How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
13 And I have not hearkened to the voice of my directors, And to my teachers have not inclined mine ear.
neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me.
14 As a little thing I have been all evil, In the midst of an assembly and a company.
I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly."
15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, Even flowing ones out of thine own well.
Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.
16 Let thy fountains be scattered abroad, In broad places rivulets of waters.
Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be to thee for thyself, And not to strangers with thee.
Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.
18 Let thy fountain be blessed, And rejoice because of the wife of thy youth,
Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 A hind of loves, and a roe of grace! Let her loves satisfy thee at all times, In her love magnify thyself continually.
A loving doe and a graceful deer—let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.
20 And why dost thou magnify thyself, My son, with a stranger? And embrace the bosom of a strange woman?
For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?
21 For over-against the eyes of Jehovah are the ways of each, And all his paths He is pondering.
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD. He examines all his paths.
22 His own iniquities do capture the wicked, And with the ropes of his sin he is holden.
The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
23 He dieth without instruction, And in the abundance of his folly magnifieth himself!
He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.
