Proverbs 5

¹My son, attend to my wisdom. And bow thine ear to my understanding;

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

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

⁴But her end is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death; Her steps lay hold of the under-world.

⁶That she may not ponder the way of life, Her paths waver when she heedeth it not.

⁷Hear me now, therefore, O children! And turn not away from the words of my mouth!

⁸Remove thy way far from her. And come not nigh the door of her house:

⁹Lest thou give thy bloom to others, And thy years to a cruel one;

¹⁰Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, And thine earnings be in the house of an alien;

¹¹And lest thou mourn in thy latter end. When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

¹²And say, "How have I hated instruction! And how hath my heart despised reproof!

¹³I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to my instructors;

¹⁴I have well-nigh fallen into utter misery; In the midst of the congregation and the assembly."

¹⁵Drink water out of thine own cistern. And running water out of thine own well:

¹⁶So shall thy fountains overflow in the streets, In the wide streets, as streams of water;

¹⁷They shall belong to thee alone, And not to strangers with thee;

¹⁸And thy fountain shall be blessed, Yea, thou shalt have joy in the wife of thy youth.

¹⁹A lovely hind, a graceful doe, Her breasts shall satisfy thee at all times, And thou shalt be always ravished with her love.

²⁰Why, then, my son, wilt thou be ravished with a wanton, And embrace the bosom of a stranger?

²¹For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And he weigheth well all his paths.

²²His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked; Yea, he shall be held fast by the cords of his own sins.

²³He shall die for want of instruction; Yea, through the greatness of his folly he shall stagger.

¹My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

²That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

³For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

⁴But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

⁶Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

⁷Hear me now therefore, O ye children, 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 honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

¹⁰Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

¹¹And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

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

¹³And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

¹⁴I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

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

¹⁶Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

¹⁷Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee.

¹⁸Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

¹⁹Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

²⁰And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

²¹For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.

²²His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

²³He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.