Proverbs 5
1 My son, listen carefully to some [more] wise things that I will tell you. Listen well to what I am going to teach you.
My son! to my wisdom give attention, To mine understanding incline thine ear,
2 If you do that, you will be able to choose wisely [what to do], and you will know [the right things] to say [MTY].
To observe thoughtfulness, And knowledge do thy lips keep.
3 What an immoral woman says [to you may be] as sweet as honey, and sound smoother than olive oil [feels on your skin],
For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And smoother than oil [is] her mouth,
4 but the result [of being with her] will be bitter like gall and [injure you as badly], like being cut with a sharp two-edged sword.
And her latter end [is] bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a sword [with] mouths.
5 If you go where she goes [MTY], you will go down to where the dead people are. Her steps will lead you straight to the grave. (Sheol h7585)
Her feet are going down to death, Sheol do her steps take hold of. (Sheol h7585)
6 She is not concerned about the roads that lead to a [long] life. She walks [down] a crooked path, and she does not realize [that she is on the wrong road].
The path of life — lest thou ponder, Moved have her paths — thou knowest not.
7 So now, my sons, listen to me. (Never turn aside from/always remember) [LIT] what I am about to tell you.
And now, ye sons, hearken to me, And turn not from sayings of my mouth.
8 Run away from immoral women! Do not go near the doors of their houses!
Keep far from off her thy way, And come not near unto the opening of her house,
9 If you enter the home of one of them, you will lose your (self-respect/good reputation) and [that woman’s husband] will not act mercifully toward you; he will [kill you and] take everything that you have acquired during your life!
Lest thou give to others thy honour, And thy years to the fierce,
10 Foreigners will take your money, and [all] the good things that you have worked for will (end up in their hands/become their possessions).
Lest strangers be filled [with] thy power, And thy labours in the house of a stranger,
11 And when you are about to die, you will groan [with severe pain] because diseases [that you have gotten from being immoral] will be destroying your body.
And thou hast howled in thy latter end, In the consumption of thy flesh and thy food,
12 Then you will say, “I hated it [when people tried to] correct me. I despised [people when they] reproved/rebuked me.
And hast said, 'How have I hated instruction, And reproof hath my heart despised,
13 I did not heed what my teachers said! I paid no attention to those who [tried to] teach me [something about my behavior].
And I have not hearkened to the voice of my directors, And to my teachers have not inclined mine ear.
14 [Now] I am almost ruined, and I will be disgraced in public gatherings.”
As a little thing I have been all evil, In the midst of an assembly and a company.
15 Like a man is refreshed by drinking water from his own well [MET], enjoy [having sex] [EUP] only with your own wife.
Drink waters out of thine own cistern, Even flowing ones out of thine own well.
16 Like you would not waste good water by pouring it into the street, [you should not have sex with other women]. [MET, EUP]
Let thy fountains be scattered abroad, In broad places rivulets of waters.
17 Enjoy [having sex] only with your wife; do not [have sex with] other women.
Let them be to thee for thyself, And not to strangers with thee.
18 Let your wife be a source of great pleasure to you. (Be happy/[Enjoy sex]) with the woman whom you married when you were both young.
Let thy fountain be blessed, And rejoice because of the wife of thy youth,
19 She is as pretty and graceful [as] a young female deer. Allow her breasts to always satisfy you. Allow her lovemaking to excite you.
A hind of loves, and a roe of grace! Let her loves satisfy thee at all times, In her love magnify thyself continually.
20 My son, do not be [RHQ] captivated/charmed by an immoral woman! Do not fondle the breasts of another man’s wife!
And why dost thou magnify thyself, My son, with a stranger? And embrace the bosom of a strange woman?
21 [I say that] because Yahweh sees clearly everything that we do; he knows [where we are going on] the roads that we walk on.
For over-against the eyes of Jehovah are the ways of each, And all his paths He is pondering.
22 Evil men’s sinful desires hold them fast; their sins are [like] ropes that bind them.
His own iniquities do capture the wicked, And with the ropes of his sin he is holden.
23 Evil men [will] die because they are unable to say “No” to their desires; they [will] (go astray/be lost) because of the foolish things that they do.
He dieth without instruction, And in the abundance of his folly magnifieth himself!
