Proverbs 5

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

1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding,

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

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

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

3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,

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

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

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

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

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

6 She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it.

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

7 Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth.

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

8 Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house,

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

9 lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;

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

10 lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man’s house.

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

11 You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,

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

12 and say, “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof.

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

13 I haven’t obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!

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

14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin, among the gathered assembly.”

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

15 Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.

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

16 Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?

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

17 Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.

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

18 Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.

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

19 A loving doe and a graceful deer— let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.

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

20 For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?

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

21 For the ways of man are before Yahweh’s eyes. He examines all his paths.

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

22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.

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

23 He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.