Proverbs 5–7

Chapter 5

My son, attend to my wisdom, and incline thy ear to my prudence,

²That thou mayst keep thoughts, and thy lips may preserve instruction. Mind not the deceit of a woman.

³For the lips of a harlot are like a honeycomb dropping, and her throat is smoother than oil.

⁴But her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down into death, and her steps go in as far as hell.

⁶They walk not by the path of life, her steps are wandering, and unaccountable.

⁷Now, therefore, my son, hear me, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

⁸Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the doors of her house.

⁹Give not thy honour to strangers, and thy years to the cruel.

¹⁰Lest strangers be filled with thy strength, and thy labours be in another man’s house,

¹¹And thou mourn at the last, when thou shalt have spent thy flesh and thy body, and say;

¹²Why have I hated instruction, and my heart consented not to reproof,

¹³And have not heard the voice of them that taught me, and have not inclined my ear to masters?

¹⁴I have almost been in all evil, in the midst of the church and of the congregation.

¹⁵Drink water out of thy own cistern, and the streams of thy own well:

¹⁶Let thy fountains be conveyed abroad, and in the streets divide thy waters.

¹⁷Keep them to thyself alone, neither let strangers be partakers with thee.

¹⁸Let thy vein be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth:

¹⁹Let her be thy dearest hind, and most agreeable fawn: let her breasts inebriate thee at all times: be thou delighted continually with her love.

²⁰Why art thou seduced, my son, by a strange woman, and art cherished in the bosom of another?

²¹The Lord beholdeth the ways of man, and considereth all his steps.

²²His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is fast bound with the ropes of his own sins.

²³He shall die, because he hath not received instruction, and in the multitude of his folly he shall be deceived.

Chapter 6

My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, thou hast engaged fast thy hand to a stranger,

²Thou art ensnared with the words of thy mouth, and caught with thy own words.

³Do, therefore, my son, what I say, and deliver thyself: because thou art fallen into the hand of thy neighbour. Run about, make haste, stir up thy friend:

⁴Give not sleep to thy eyes, neither let thy eyelids slumber.

⁵Deliver thyself as a doe from the hand, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

⁶Go to the ant, O sluggard, and consider her ways, and learn wisdom:

⁷Which, although she hath no guide, nor master, nor captain,

⁸Provideth her meat for herself in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

⁹How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

¹⁰Thou wilt sleep a little, thou wilt slumber a little, thou wilt fold thy hands a little to sleep:

¹¹And want shall come upon thee, as a traveller, and poverty as a man armed. But if thou be diligent, thy harvest shall come as a fountain, and want shall flee far from thee.

¹²A man that is an apostate, an unprofitable man, walketh with a perverse mouth,

¹³He winketh with the eyes, presseth with the foot, speaketh with the finger.

¹⁴With a wicked heart he deviseth evil, and at all times he soweth discord.

¹⁵To such a one his destruction shall presently come, and he shall suddenly be destroyed, and shall no longer have any remedy.

¹⁶Six things there are, which the Lord hateth, and the seventh his soul detesteth:

¹⁷Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

¹⁸A heart that deviseth wicked plots, feet that are swift to run into mischief,

¹⁹A deceitful witness that uttereth lies, and him that soweth discord among brethren.

²⁰My son, keep the commandments of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother.

²¹Bind them in thy heart continually, and put them about thy neck.

²²When thou walkest, let them go with thee: when thou sleepest, let them keep thee, and when thou awakest, talk with them.

²³Because the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

²⁴That they may keep thee from the evil woman, and from the flattering tongue of the stranger.

²⁵Let not thy heart covet her beauty, be not caught with her winks:

²⁶For the price of a harlot is scarce one loaf: but the woman catcheth the precious soul of a man.

²⁷Can a man hide fire in his bosom, and his garments not burn?

²⁸Or can he walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be burnt?

²⁹So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife, shall not be clean when he shall touch her.

³⁰The fault is not so great when a man hath stolen: for he stealeth to fill his hungry soul:

³¹And if he be taken, he shall restore sevenfold, and shall give up all the substance of his house.

³²But he that is an adulterer, for the folly of his heart shall destroy his own soul:

³³He gathereth to himself shame and dishonour, and his reproach shall not be blotted out:

³⁴Because the jealousy and rage of the husband will not spare in the day of revenge,

³⁵Nor will he yield to any man’s prayers, nor will he accept for satisfaction ever so many gifts.

Chapter 7

My son, keep my words, and lay up my precepts with thee. Son,

²Keep my commandments, and thou shalt live: and my law as the apple of thy eye:

³Bind it upon thy fingers, write it upon the tables of thy heart.

⁴Say to wisdom: Thou art my sister: and call prudence thy friend,

⁵That she may keep thee from the woman that is not thine, and from the stranger who sweeteneth her words.

⁶For I looked out of the window of my house through the lattice,

⁷And I see little ones, I behold a foolish young man,

⁸Who passeth through the street by the corner, and goeth nigh the way of her house,

⁹In the dark when it grows late, in the darkness and obscurity of the night.

¹⁰And behold a woman meeteth him in harlot’s attire, prepared to deceive souls: talkative and wandering,

¹¹Not bearing to be quiet, not able to abide still at home,

¹²Now abroad, now in the streets, now lying in wait near the corners.

¹³And catching the young man, she kisseth him, and with an impudent face, flattereth, saying:

¹⁴I vowed victims for prosperity, this day I have paid my vows.

¹⁵Therefore I am come out to meet thee, desirous to see thee, and I have found thee.

¹⁶I have woven my bed with cords, I have covered it with painted tapestry, brought from Egypt.

¹⁷I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

¹⁸Come, let us be inebriated with the breasts, and let us enjoy the desired embraces, till the day appear.

¹⁹For my husband is not at home, he is gone a very long journey.

²⁰He took with him a bag of money: he will return home the day of the full moon.

²¹She entangled him with many words, and drew him away with the flattery of her lips.

²²Immediately he followeth her as an ox led to be a victim, and as a lamb playing the wanton, and not knowing that he is drawn like a fool to bonds,

²³Till the arrow pierce his liver: as if a bird should make haste to the snare, and knoweth not that his life is in danger.

²⁴Now, therefore, my son, hear me, and attend to the words of my mouth.

²⁵Let not thy mind be drawn away in her ways: neither be thou deceived with her paths.

²⁶For she hath cast down many wounded, and the strongest have been slain by her.

²⁷Her house is the way to hell, reaching even to the inner chambers of death.