Proverbs 5:18–23

Let your fountain be blessed,

and rejoice in the wife of your youth,

a lovely deer, a graceful doe.

Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;

be intoxicated always in her love.

Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman

and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?

For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord,

and he ponders all his paths.

The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,

and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.

He dies for lack of discipline,

and because of his great folly he is led astray.

May your fountain be blessed,

and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.

A loving doe, a graceful deer—

may her breasts satisfy you always,

may you ever be intoxicated with her love.

Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?

Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

For your ways are in full view of the Lord,

and he examines all your paths.

The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;

the cords of their sins hold them fast.

For lack of discipline they will die,

led astray by their own great folly.

Let your fountain be blessed,

and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.

A loving deer, a graceful doe—

let her breasts always satisfy you;

be lost in her love forever.

Why, my son, would you lose yourself

with a forbidden woman

or embrace a wayward woman?

For a man’s ways are before the Lord’s eyes,

and he considers all his paths.

A wicked man’s iniquities will trap him;

he will become tangled in the ropes of his own sin.

He will die because there is no discipline,

and be lost because of his great stupidity.

Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you.

Rejoice in the wife of your youth.

She is a loving deer, a graceful doe.

Let her breasts satisfy you always.

May you always be captivated by her love.

Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman,

or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman?

For the Lord sees clearly what a man does,

examining every path he takes.

An evil man is held captive by his own sins;

they are ropes that catch and hold him.

He will die for lack of self-control;

he will be lost because of his great foolishness.

May your fountain be blessed,

and rejoice in the wife of your youth.

She is a deer of love and a doe of grace;

may her breasts satisfy you always;

by her love may you be intoxicated continually.

Why should you be intoxicated, my child, by a strange woman,

and embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

For before the eyes of Yahweh are human ways,

and all his paths he examines.

His iniquities shall ensnare him, the evildoer,

and in the vanity of his sin he shall be caught.

He shall die for lack of discipline,

and in the greatness of his folly he shall be lost.

Let thy fountain be blessed:

And rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe;

Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times;

And be thou ravished always with her love.

And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman,

And embrace the bosom of a stranger?

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord,

And he pondereth all his goings.

His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself,

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

He shall die without instruction;

And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.