Proverbs 5

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition

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 it 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; he 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.

Proverbs 5

New International Version

Warning Against Adultery

5 My son,^(A) pay attention to my wisdom,
    turn your ear to my words^(B) of insight,
²that you may maintain discretion
    and your lips may preserve knowledge.
³For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
    and her speech is smoother than oil;^(C)
⁴but in the end she is bitter as gall,^(D)
    sharp as a double-edged sword.
⁵Her feet go down to death;
    her steps lead straight to the grave.^(E)
⁶She gives no thought to the way of life;
    her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.^(F)

⁷Now then, my sons, listen^(G) to me;
    do not turn aside from what I say.
⁸Keep to a path far from her,^(H)
    do not go near the door of her house,
⁹lest you lose your honor to others
    and your dignity^[a] to one who is cruel,
¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth
    and your toil enrich the house of another.^(I)
¹¹At the end of your life you will groan,
    when your flesh and body are spent.
¹²You will say, “How I hated discipline!
    How my heart spurned correction!^(J)
¹³I would not obey my teachers
    or turn my ear to my instructors.
¹⁴And I was soon in serious trouble^(K)
    in the assembly of God’s people.”^(L)

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern,
    running water from your own well.
¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets,
    your streams of water in the public squares?
¹⁷Let them be yours alone,
    never to be shared with strangers.
¹⁸May your fountain^(M) be blessed,
    and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.^(N)
¹⁹A loving doe, a graceful deer^(O)—
    may her breasts satisfy you always,
    may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
²⁰Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
    Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

²¹For your ways are in full view^(P) of the Lord,
    and he examines^(Q) all your paths.^(R)
²²The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;^(S)
    the cords of their sins hold them fast.^(T)
²³For lack of discipline they will die,^(U)
    led astray by their own great folly.^(V)