< Proverbs 5 >

1 My sonne, hearken vnto my wisedome, and incline thine eare vnto my knowledge.
My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow your ear to my understanding:
2 That thou maiest regarde counsell, and thy lippes obserue knowledge.
That you may regard discretion, and that your lips may keep knowledge.
3 For the lippes of a strange woman drop as an honie combe, and her mouth is more soft then oyle.
For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
4 But the end of her is bitter as wormewood, and sharpe as a two edged sworde.
But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feete goe downe to death, and her steps take holde on hell. (Sheol h7585)
Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. (Sheol h7585)
6 She weigheth not the way of life: her paths are moueable: thou canst not knowe them.
Lest you should ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that you can not know them.
7 Heare yee me nowe therefore, O children, and depart not from the wordes of my mouth.
Hear me now therefore, O all of you children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
8 Keepe thy way farre from her, and come not neere the doore of her house,
Remove your way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
9 Least thou giue thine honor vnto others, and thy yeeres to the cruell:
Lest you give your honour unto others, and your years unto the cruel:
10 Least the stranger should be silled with thy strength, and thy labours bee in the house of a stranger,
Lest strangers be filled with your wealth; and your labours be in the house of a stranger;
11 And thou mourne at thine end, (when thou hast consumed thy flesh and thy bodie)
And you mourn at the last, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
12 And say, How haue I hated instruction, and mine heart despised correction!
And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
13 And haue not obeied the voyce of them that taught mee, nor enclined mine eare to them that instructed me!
And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
14 I was almost brought into all euil in ye mids of the Congregation and assemblie.
I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
15 Drinke the water of thy cisterne, and of the riuers out of the middes of thine owne well.
Drink waters out of your own cistern, and running waters out of your own well.
16 Let thy fountaines flow foorth, and the riuers of waters in the streetes.
Let your fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
17 But let them bee thine, euen thine onely, and not the strangers with thee.
Let them be only your own, and not strangers' with you.
18 Let thy fountaine be blessed, and reioyce with the wife of thy youth.
Let your fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of your youth.
19 Let her be as the louing hinde and pleasant roe: let her brests satisfie thee at all times, and delite in her loue continually.
Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and be you ravished always with her love.
20 For why shouldest thou delite, my sonne, in a strange woman, or embrace the bosome of a stranger?
And why will you, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 For the waies of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his pathes.
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his activities.
22 His owne iniquities shall take the wicked himselfe, and he shall be holden with the cordes of his owne sinne.
His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be held with the cords of his sins.
23 Hee shall die for fault of instruction, and shall goe astray through his great follie.
He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

< Proverbs 5 >