Proverbs 5–7

^aMy son, attend unto my wisdom,

And ^aabow thine ear to my understanding:

²That thou mayest regard ^bdiscretion,

And that thy lips may ^ckeep knowledge.

³For the lips of a ^dstrange woman ^edrop as a honeycomb,

And her mouth is ^fsmoother than oil:

⁴But her end is ^gbitter as ^hwormwood,

^fiSharp as a ^ktwoedged sword.

⁵Her feet ^lgo down to death;

Her steps take hold on hell.

⁶Lest thou shouldest ^mponder the path of life,

Her ⁿways ^oare moveable, that ^pthou canst not know them.

^7qHear 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 ^rcruel:

¹⁰Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth;

And thy ^slabours be in the house of a stranger;

¹¹And thou ^tmourn at the last,

When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

¹²And say, How have I ^uhated instruction,

And my heart ^xdespised reproof;

¹³And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,

Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

¹⁴I was ^yalmost in all evil

In the midst of the congregation and assembly.

¹⁵Drink ^zwaters out of thine own cistern,

And running waters out of thine own well.

¹⁶Let thy ^afountains be dispersed abroad,

And rivers of waters ^bin the streets.

¹⁷Let them be only thine own,

And not strangers’ with thee.

¹⁸Let thy ^zfountain be blessed:

And ^crejoice with ^dthe wife of thy youth.

¹⁹Let her be as the loving ^ehind and pleasant ^froe;

Let her ^gbreasts ^hsatisfy thee at all times;

And be thou ravisht always with her love.

²⁰And why wilt thou, my son, be ravisht with a ⁱstrange woman,

And embrace the bosom of a ⁱstranger?

²¹For ^jthe ways of man are before ^kthe eyes of the Lord,

And he ^lpondereth all his ^mgoings.

²²ⁿHis own iniquities shall ^otake the wicked himself,

And he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

^23pHe shall die without instruction;

And in the greatness of his folly he shall ^qgo astray.

VI.My son, if thou ^abe surety for thy friend,

If thou hast ^astricken thy hand with a stranger,

²Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth,

Thou art ^btaken with the words of thy mouth,

³Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself,

When thou art come into the hand of thy friend;

Go, ^chumble thyself, and make sure thy friend.

^4dGive not sleep to thine eyes,

^dNor slumber to thine eyelids.

⁵Deliver thyself as a ^eroe from the hand of the hunter,

And ^fas a bird from the hand of the fowler.

^6gGo to the ^hant, thou ⁱsluggard;

Consider her ways, and ^kbe wise:

^7lWhich having no ^mguide, ⁿoverseer, or ruler,

^8hProvideth her meat in the summer,

And ^ogathereth her food in the harvest.

⁹How long wilt thou sleep, O ⁱsluggard?

When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

^10pYet a little ^dsleep, a little ^dslumber,

A little folding of the hands to sleep:

^11qSo shall ^rthy poverty come as one that travelleth,

And thy want as an armed man.

^12rrA naughty person, a wicked man,

Walketh with a ^sfroward mouth.

¹³He ^twinketh with his eyes,

He speaketh with his feet,

He teacheth with his fingers;

^14uFrowardness is in his heart,

^xHe deviseth mischief continually;

He soweth discord.

¹⁵Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly;

^ySuddenly shall he be broken ^zwithout remedy.

¹⁶These ^asix things doth the Lord hate:

Yea, ^aseven are an abomination unto him:

¹⁷A proud look, ^ba lying tongue,

And ^cehands that shed innocent blood,

^18dA heart that deviseth ^ewicked imaginations,

^efFeet that be swift in running to mischief,

¹⁹A false witness ^gthat speaketh lies,

And he that ^hsoweth discord among brethren.

²⁰ⁱMy son, keep thy father’s commandment,

And ⁱforsake not the law of thy mother:

^21kBind them continually upon thine heart,

And ^ltie them about thy ^mneck.

²²ⁿWhen thou goest, it shall lead thee;

ⁿWhen thou sleepest, it ^oshall keep thee;

And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

²³For the commandment is ^pa lamp; and the law is ^plight;

And ^ppreproofs of instruction are the way of life:

²⁴To keep thee from the evil woman,

From ^qthe flattery of the tongue of a ^rstrange woman.

^25sLust not after her beauty in thine heart;

Neither let her take thee with ^ther eyelids.

²⁶For ^uby means of a whorish woman a man is brought to ^xa piece of bread:

And the adulteress will ^yhunt for ^zthe precious life.

²⁷Can a man ^atake ^bfire in ^chis bosom,

And his clothes not be burnt?

²⁸Can one ^dgo upon hot coals,

And his feet not be ^dburnt?

²⁹So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife;

Whosoever toucheth her shall not be ^ddinnocent.

³⁰Men do not despise a thief, if he steal

^eTo satisfy his ^eesoul when he is hungry;

³¹But if he ^fbe found, ^fhe shall restore ^gsevenfold;

He shall give all the substance of his house.

³²But whoso committeth adultery with a woman ^hlacketh understanding:

He that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

³³A wound and dishonour shall he get;

And his reproach shall not be wiped away.

³⁴For ⁱjealousy is the rage of a man:

Therefore he will not spare ^kin the day of vengeance.

³⁵He will not regard any ransom;

Neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.

VII.^aMy son, keep my words,

And ^alay up my commandments with thee.

^2bKeep my commandments, and ^blive;

And my law as ^cthe apple of thine eye.

^3dBind them upon thy fingers,

^dWrite them upon the table of thine heart.

⁴Say unto wisdom, Thou art ^emy sister;

And call understanding thy ^fkinswoman:

^5gThat they may keep thee from the strange woman,

^gFrom the stranger which flattereth with her words.

⁶For ^hat the window of my house

^hI looked through my casement,

⁷And beheld among the ⁱsimple ones,

I discerned among the youths,

A young man ^kvoid of understanding,

⁸Passing through the ^lstreet near ^mher corner;

And he went the way to her house,

⁹In the ⁿtwilight, in the evening,

In the ^oblack and dark night:

¹⁰And behold, ^oothere met him a woman

With ^pthe attire of a harlot, and subtil of heart.

¹¹(She is ^qloud and ^rstubborn;

^sHer feet abide not in her house:

¹²Now is she without, now in the streets,

And ^sslieth in wait at ^mevery corner.)

¹³So she caught him, and kissed him,

And with an impudent face said unto him,

¹⁴I have ^tpeace offerings with me;

This day have I ^upayed my vows.

¹⁵Therefore came I forth to meet thee,

^xDiligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.

¹⁶I have deckt my bed with ^ycoverings of tapestry,

With carved works, with ^zfine linen of Egypt.

¹⁷I have ^aperfumed my bed

With ^bmyrrh, ^baloes, and ^ccinnamon.

¹⁸Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning:

Let us solace ourselves with loves.

¹⁹For the ^dgoodman is not at home,

He is gone a long journey:

²⁰He hath taken a ^ebag of money with him,

And will come home at the day appointed.

²¹With her much ^ffair speech she caused him to yield,

With ^gthe flattering of her lips she forced him.

²²He goeth after her straightway,

As an ox goeth to the slaughter,

Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;

²³Till a dart strike through his liver;

^hAs a bird hasteth to the snare,

And knoweth not that it is for his life.

^24ikHearken unto me now therefore, O ye children,

And ^kattend to the words of my mouth.

²⁵Let not thine heart ^ldecline to her ways,

Go not astray in her paths.

²⁶For she hath cast down many wounded:

Yea, ^mmany strong men have been slain by her.

²⁷ⁿHer house is the way to hell,

Going down to ^othe chambers of death.

VIII.