Proverbs 5
1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen carefully as I explain what makes sense,
My son, attend to my wisdom. And bow thine ear to my understanding;
2 so you can make good decisions and protect knowledge with your lips.
That thou mayest keep discretion, And that thy lips may preserve knowledge!
3 For the lips of an immoral woman may taste as sweet as honey, the kisses of her mouth may be as smooth as oil,
Truly, the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;
4 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.
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 She doesn't follow the path that leads to life—she wanders away and doesn't even know she's lost.
That she may not ponder the way of life, Her paths waver when she heedeth it not.
7 Now, my son, listen to me; don't reject what I have taught you.
Hear me now, therefore, O children! And turn not away from the words of my mouth!
8 Stay far away from her! Don't go near the door of her house!
Remove thy way far from her. And come not nigh the door of her house:
9 Otherwise you'll surrender your honor to others, and your character to cruel people.
Lest thou give thy bloom to others, And thy years to a cruel one;
10 Strangers will spend your wealth; everything you've worked for will go to someone else.
Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, And thine earnings be in the house of an alien;
11 When you come to the end of your life you'll moan in pain as disease destroys your body.
And lest thou mourn in thy latter end. When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 You'll say, “How I used to hate discipline, and my mind rebelled against being corrected!
And say, “How have I hated instruction! And how hath my heart despised reproof!
13 I didn't listen to what my teacher said. I didn't pay attention to my instructors.
I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to my instructors;
14 Now I'm on the verge of being completely disgraced before everyone in the community.”
I have well-nigh fallen into utter misery; In the midst of the congregation and the assembly.”
15 Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.
Drink water out of thine own cistern. And running water out of thine own well:
16 Why should your springs be spilled outside, your streams of water poured out in the streets?
So shall thy fountains overflow in the streets, In the wide streets, as streams of water;
17 Keep them for yourselves alone. They're not for you to share with strangers.
They shall belong to thee alone, And not to strangers with thee;
18 May your spring of water be blessed, and may you enjoy the wife you married when you were young.
And thy fountain shall be blessed, Yea, thou shalt have joy in the wife of thy youth.
19 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.
A lovely hind, a graceful doe, Her breasts shall satisfy thee at all times, And thou shalt be always ravished with her love.
20 Why, my son, become intoxicated with an immoral woman? Why embrace the breasts of a woman who acts like a prostitute?
Why, then, my son, wilt thou be ravished with a wanton, And embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 For the Lord sees everything people do, the Lord investigates everywhere they go.
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And he weigheth well all his paths.
22 The wicked are trapped by their evil actions; the cords of their sins tie them up.
His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked; Yea, he shall be held fast by the cords of his own sins.
23 They will die because they lack self-control, lost because of their great stupidity.
He shall die for want of instruction; Yea, through the greatness of his folly he shall stagger.
