Proverbs 5
- 1
My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight, Begin Abide·
- 2
that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge. Begin Abide·
- 3
Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil, Begin Abide·
- 4
in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword. Begin Abide·
- 5
Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol. Begin Abide·
- 6
She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable. Begin Abide·
- 7
So now, my sons, listen to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth. Begin Abide·
- 8
Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house, Begin Abide·
- 9
lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel; Begin Abide·
- 10
lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner. Begin Abide·
- 11
At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are spent, Begin Abide·
- 12
and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! Begin Abide·
- 13
I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors. Begin Abide·
- 14
I am on the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.” Begin Abide·
- 15
Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well. Begin Abide·
- 16
Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? Begin Abide·
- 17
Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. Begin Abide·
- 18
May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth: Begin Abide·
- 19
A loving doe, a graceful fawn—may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever. Begin Abide·
- 20
Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger? Begin Abide·
- 21
For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths. Begin Abide·
- 22
The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him. Begin Abide·
- 23
He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly. Begin Abide·