Proverbs 5

¹My son, attend unto my wisdom; Incline thine ear to my understanding:

²That thou mayest preserve discretion, And that thy lips may keep knowledge.

³For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil:

⁴But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold on Sheol;

⁶So that she findeth not the level path of life: Her ways are unstable, andshe knoweth it not.

⁷Now therefore, mysons, hearken unto me, And depart not from the words of my mouth.

⁸Remove thy way far from her, And come not nigh the door of her house;

⁹Lest thou give thine honor unto others, And thy years unto the cruel;

¹⁰Lest strangers be filled with thy strength, And thy labors be in the house of an alien,

¹¹And thou mourn at thy latter end, When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

¹²And say, How have I hated instruction, And my heart despised reproof;

¹³Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

¹⁴I was well-nigh in all evil In the midst of the assembly and congregation.

¹⁵Drink waters out of thine own cistern, And running waters out of thine own well.

¹⁶Should thy springs be dispersed abroad, And streams of water in the streets?

¹⁷Let them be for thyself alone, And not for strangers with thee.

¹⁸Let thy fountain be blessed; And rejoice in the wife of thy youth.

¹⁹Asa loving hind and a pleasant doe, Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; And be thou ravished always with her love.

²⁰For why shouldest thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

²¹For the ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah; And he maketh level all his paths.

²²His own iniquities shall take the wicked, And he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.

²³He shall die for lack of instruction; And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight,

²that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.

³Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,

⁴in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol.

⁶She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable.

⁷So now, my sons, listen to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth.

⁸Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,

⁹lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel;

¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner.

¹¹At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are spent,

¹²and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!

¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors.

¹⁴I am on the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.”

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.

¹⁶Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?

¹⁷Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.

¹⁸May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:

¹⁹A loving doe, a graceful fawn— may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever.

²⁰Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger?

²¹For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths.

²²The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.

²³He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.