Proverbs 5
1 My son! to my wisdom give attention, To mine understanding incline thine ear,
My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen carefully as I explain what makes sense,
2 To observe thoughtfulness, And knowledge do thy lips keep.
so you can make good decisions and protect knowledge with your lips.
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And smoother than oil [is] her mouth,
For the lips of an immoral woman may taste as sweet as honey, the kisses of her mouth may be as smooth as oil,
4 And her latter end [is] bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a sword [with] mouths.
but in the end what you get from her is the bitterness of wormwood and the sharp pain of being cut with a two-edged sword.
She leads you down to death; she takes you down to the grave. (Sheol h7585)
6 The path of life — lest thou ponder, Moved have her paths — thou knowest not.
She doesn't follow the path that leads to life—she wanders away and doesn't even know she's lost.
7 And now, ye sons, hearken to me, And turn not from sayings of my mouth.
Now, my son, listen to me; don't reject what I have taught you.
8 Keep far from off her thy way, And come not near unto the opening of her house,
Stay far away from her! Don't go near the door of her house!
9 Lest thou give to others thy honour, And thy years to the fierce,
Otherwise you'll surrender your honor to others, and your character to cruel people.
10 Lest strangers be filled [with] thy power, And thy labours in the house of a stranger,
Strangers will spend your wealth; everything you've worked for will go to someone else.
11 And thou hast howled in thy latter end, In the consumption of thy flesh and thy food,
When you come to the end of your life you'll moan in pain as disease destroys your body.
12 And hast said, 'How have I hated instruction, And reproof hath my heart despised,
You'll say, “How I used to hate discipline, and my mind rebelled against being corrected!
13 And I have not hearkened to the voice of my directors, And to my teachers have not inclined mine ear.
I didn't listen to what my teacher said. I didn't pay attention to my instructors.
14 As a little thing I have been all evil, In the midst of an assembly and a company.
Now I'm on the verge of being completely disgraced before everyone in the community.”
15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, Even flowing ones out of thine own well.
Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.
16 Let thy fountains be scattered abroad, In broad places rivulets of waters.
Why should your springs be spilled outside, your streams of water poured out in the streets?
17 Let them be to thee for thyself, And not to strangers with thee.
Keep them for yourselves alone. They're not for you to share with strangers.
18 Let thy fountain be blessed, And rejoice because of the wife of thy youth,
May your spring of water be blessed, and may you enjoy the wife you married when you were young.
19 A hind of loves, and a roe of grace! Let her loves satisfy thee at all times, In her love magnify thyself continually.
May she be to you a loving deer, a graceful doe. May her breasts always be intoxicating to you; may you be drunk on her love forever.
20 And why dost thou magnify thyself, My son, with a stranger? And embrace the bosom of a strange woman?
Why, my son, become intoxicated with an immoral woman? Why embrace the breasts of a woman who acts like a prostitute?
21 For over-against the eyes of Jehovah are the ways of each, And all his paths He is pondering.
For the Lord sees everything people do, the Lord investigates everywhere they go.
22 His own iniquities do capture the wicked, And with the ropes of his sin he is holden.
The wicked are trapped by their evil actions; the cords of their sins tie them up.
23 He dieth without instruction, And in the abundance of his folly magnifieth himself!
They will die because they lack self-control, lost because of their great stupidity.
