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Proverbs

Offers wisdom and advice on how to live a good and meaningful life.

Chapter 5

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1 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

*"Son, listen to my wise advice and pay attention to what I understand."

2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

*So you can understand wisdom and have your lips speak knowledgeably.

3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

*A stranger's lips are like a honeycomb, and her mouth feels nice, smoother than oil.

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

*But her outcome is extremely unpleasant, like a poisonous plant, and very painful, like a knife with sharp edges on both sides.

5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

*Her feet lead to death; her steps grasp at darkness.

6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

*So that you don't think about the way of life, its paths change and are unpredictable, making it hard for you to understand them.

7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

*Listen to me carefully, kids, and don't leave my words.

8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

*Stay far away from her and don't go near her house's entrance.

9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

*So that you don't let others have your respect and waste your life with the unkind people.

10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

*So that foreigners don't take all your stuff; and your hard work doesn't benefit someone else.

11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

*And you grieve in the end when your body and flesh are gone.

12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

*And say, I've strongly disliked guidance, and my heart has rejected correction.

13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

*I didn't listen to my teachers or pay attention to those who taught me!

14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

*I nearly did everything wrong among the group of people gathered together.

15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

*Drink from your own water source and use the flowing water from your own well.

16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

*Let your water sources spread far away, and streams of water flow in the streets.

17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee.

*Keep them just for yourself and not for others.

18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

*Let your source of happiness be blessed, and celebrate with your young wife.

19 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.

*Let her be like a gentle deer and delightful companion; let her comfort you forever; and always be captivated by her affection.

20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

*Why do you, my child, want to be captivated by a woman not known to you, and hug the chest of someone unfamiliar?

21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.

*God sees everything people do and thinks about all their actions.

22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

*The wicked person will be caught by their own wrongdoings, held tight by the ropes of their sins.

23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

*He will pass away without learning; and in his foolishness, he will wander off course.

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