Proverbs 5
1 My son, to my wisdom, attend, and, to mine understanding, incline thou thine ear:
My son, attend to my wisdom. And bow thine ear to my understanding;
2 That thou mayest preserve discretion, —and, as for knowledge, that thy lips may guard it.
That thou mayest keep discretion, And that thy lips may preserve knowledge!
3 For, with sweet droppings, drip the lips of her that is a stranger, and, smoother than oil, is her mouth;
Truly, the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;
4 But, the latter end of her, is bitter as wormwood, sharp, as a two-edged sword!
But her end is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death; Her steps lay hold of the under-world. (Sheol h7585)
6 Lest, the path of life, she should ponder, her tracks have wandered she knoweth not [whither].
That she may not ponder the way of life, Her paths waver when she heedeth it not.
7 Now, therefore, ye sons, hearken unto me, and do not turn away from the sayings of my mouth.
Hear me now, therefore, O children! And turn not away from the words of my mouth!
8 Keep far from her thy way, and do not go near the opening of her house:
Remove thy way far from her. And come not nigh the door of her house:
9 Lest thou give, to other men, thy vigour, and thy years, to him that is cruel:
Lest thou give thy bloom to others, And thy years to a cruel one;
10 Lest strange men, be well fed, by thy strength, and, thy toils, be in the house of the alien.
Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, And thine earnings be in the house of an alien;
11 So shalt thou grieve in thy latter end, in the failing of thy flesh and of thy healthy condition;
And lest thou mourn in thy latter end. When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 And thou shalt say—How I hated correction! and, reproof, my heart disdained;
And say, “How have I hated instruction! And how hath my heart despised reproof!
13 Neither hearkened I to the voice of my teachers, nor, to my instructors, inclined I mine ear:
I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to my instructors;
14 Soon was I in all evil, in the midst of convocation and assembly.
I have well-nigh fallen into utter misery; In the midst of the congregation and the assembly.”
15 Drink thou water out of thine own cistern, and flowing streams out of the midst of thine own well.
Drink water out of thine own cistern. And running water out of thine own well:
16 Let not thy fountains, flow over, abroad, in the streets, dividings of waters:
So shall thy fountains overflow in the streets, In the wide streets, as streams of water;
17 Let them be for thyself, alone, and not for strangers with thee.
They shall belong to thee alone, And not to strangers with thee;
18 Let thy well-spring be blessed, —and get thy joy from the wife of thy youth: —
And thy fountain shall be blessed, Yea, thou shalt have joy in the wife of thy youth.
19 A loving hind! a graceful doe! let, her bosom, content thee at all times, and, in her love, mayst thou stray evermore.
A lovely hind, a graceful doe, Her breasts shall satisfy thee at all times, And thou shalt be always ravished with her love.
20 Wherefore, then, shouldst thou stray, my son, with a strange woman? or embrace the bosom of a woman unknown?
Why, then, my son, wilt thou be ravished with a wanton, And embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 For, before the eyes of Yahweh, are the ways of a man, —and, all his tracks, doth he consider:
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And he weigheth well all his paths.
22 His own iniquities, shall entrap him with the lawless, and, by the cords of his own sin, shall he be seized.
His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked; Yea, he shall be held fast by the cords of his own sins.
23 He, shall die, for lack of discipline, and, by the abounding of his perversity, shall he be lost.
He shall die for want of instruction; Yea, through the greatness of his folly he shall stagger.
