Proverbs 5
1 My son! to my wisdom give attention, To mine understanding incline thine ear,
My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ears to my understanding,
2 To observe thoughtfulness, And knowledge do thy lips keep.
so you may learn about discretion and your lips may protect 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 with honey and 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, cutting like a sharp sword.
Her feet go down to death; her steps go all the way 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 path of life. Her footsteps wander; she does not know where she is going.
7 And now, ye sons, hearken to me, And turn not from sayings of my mouth.
Now, my sons, listen to me; do not turn away from listening to the words of my mouth.
8 Keep far from off her thy way, And come not near unto the opening of her house,
Keep your path far away from her and do not come near the door of her house.
9 Lest thou give to others thy honour, And thy years to the fierce,
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 power, And thy labours 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 hast howled in thy latter end, In the consumption of thy flesh and thy food,
At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body waste away.
12 And hast said, 'How have I hated instruction, And reproof hath my heart despised,
You will say, “How I hated instruction and my heart despised correction!
13 And I have not hearkened to the voice of my directors, And to my teachers have not inclined mine ear.
I would not obey my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.
14 As a little thing I have been all evil, In the midst of an assembly and a company.
I was almost completely ruined in the midst of the assembly, among the gathering of the people.”
15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, Even flowing ones out of thine own well.
Drink water from your own cistern and drink running water from your own well.
16 Let thy fountains be scattered abroad, In broad places rivulets of waters.
Should your springs overflow everywhere and your streams of water flow in the public squares?
17 Let them be to thee for thyself, And not to strangers with thee.
Let them be for yourself alone and not for strangers with you.
18 Let thy fountain be blessed, And rejoice because of the wife of thy youth,
May your fountain be blessed and may you 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.
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 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 by an adulteress; why should you embrace the breasts of an immoral woman?
21 For over-against the eyes of Jehovah are the ways of each, And all his paths He is pondering.
Yahweh sees everything a person does and watches all the paths he takes.
22 His own iniquities do capture the wicked, And with the ropes of his sin he is holden.
A wicked person will be seized by his own iniquities; the cords of his sin will hold him tight.
23 He dieth without instruction, And in the abundance of his folly magnifieth himself!
He will die because he lacks instruction; he is led astray by his great foolishness.
