| 5:1 |
My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding: |
| 5:2 |
that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge. |
| 5:3 |
For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil, |
| 5:4 |
But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword. |
| 5:5 |
Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol. |
| 5:6 |
She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it. |
| 5:7 |
Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don't depart from the words of my mouth. |
| 5:8 |
Remove your way far from her. Don't come near the door of her house, |
| 5:9 |
lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one; |
| 5:10 |
lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man's house. |
| 5:11 |
You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed, |
| 5:12 |
and say, "How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; |
| 5:13 |
neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me! |
| 5:14 |
I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly." |
| 5:15 |
Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well. |
| 5:16 |
Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares? |
| 5:17 |
Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you. |
| 5:18 |
Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. |
| 5:19 |
A loving doe and a graceful deer--let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love. |
| 5:20 |
For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another? |
| 5:21 |
For the ways of man are before the eyes of Yahweh. He examines all his paths. |
| 5:22 |
The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly. |
| 5:23 |
He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray. |
