Proverbs 5

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

1My son! to my wisdom give attention, To mine understanding incline thine ear,

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

2To observe thoughtfulness, And knowledge do thy lips keep.

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

3For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And smoother than oil <FI>is<Fi> her mouth,

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

4And her latter end <FI>is<Fi> bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a sword <FI>with<Fi> mouths.

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

5Her feet are going down to death, Sheol do her steps take hold of.

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

6The path of life--lest thou ponder, Moved have her paths--thou knowest not.

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

7And now, ye sons, hearken to me, And turn not from sayings of my mouth.

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

8Keep far from off her thy way, And come not near unto the opening of her house,

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

9Lest thou give to others thy honour, And thy years to the fierce,

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

10Lest strangers be filled <FI>with<Fi> thy power, And thy labours in the house of a stranger,

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

11And thou hast howled in thy latter end, In the consumption of thy flesh and thy food,

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

12And hast said, `How have I hated instruction, And reproof hath my heart despised,

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

13And I have not hearkened to the voice of my directors, And to my teachers have not inclined mine ear.

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

14As a little thing I have been all evil, In the midst of an assembly and a company.

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

15Drink waters out of thine own cistern, Even flowing ones out of thine own well.

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

16Let thy fountains be scattered abroad, In broad places rivulets of waters.

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

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

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

18Let thy fountain be blessed, And rejoice because of 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.

19A hind of loves, and a roe of grace! Let her loves satisfy thee at all times, In her love magnify thyself continually.

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

20And why dost thou magnify thyself, My son, with a stranger? And embrace the bosom of a strange woman?

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

21For over-against the eyes of Jehovah are the ways of each, And all his paths He is pondering.

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

22His own iniquities do capture the wicked, And with the ropes of his sin he is holden.

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

23He dieth without instruction, And in the abundance of his folly magnifieth himself!