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當遠淫婦

我兒,要留心我智慧的話語,側耳聽我聰明的言辭, 為要使你謹守謀略,嘴唇保存知識。 因為淫婦的嘴滴下蜂蜜,她的口比油更滑, 至終卻苦似茵陳,快如兩刃的刀。 她的腳下入死地,她腳步踏住陰間, 以致她找不著生命平坦的道。她的路變遷不定,自己還不知道。

眾子啊,現在要聽從我,不可離棄我口中的話。 你所行的道要離她遠,不可就近她的房門, 恐怕將你的尊榮給別人,將你的歲月給殘忍的人, 10 恐怕外人滿得你的力量,你勞碌得來的歸入外人的家。 11 終久你皮肉和身體消毀,你就悲嘆, 12 說:「我怎麼恨惡訓誨,心中藐視責備, 13 也不聽從我師傅的話,又不側耳聽那教訓我的人! 14 我在聖會裡幾乎落在諸般惡中!」

15 你要喝自己池中的水,飲自己井裡的活水。 16 你的泉源豈可漲溢在外?你的河水豈可流在街上? 17 唯獨歸你一人,不可與外人同用。 18 要使你的泉源蒙福,要喜悅你幼年所娶的妻, 19 她如可愛的麀鹿,可喜的母鹿。願她的胸懷使你時時知足,她的愛情使你常常戀慕。 20 我兒,你為何戀慕淫婦,為何抱外女的胸懷? 21 因為人所行的道都在耶和華眼前,他也修平人一切的路。 22 惡人必被自己的罪孽捉住,他必被自己的罪惡如繩索纏繞。 23 他因不受訓誨,就必死亡,又因愚昧過甚,必走差了路。

Warning Against Adultery

(A)My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
    (B)incline your ear to my understanding,
that you may keep (C)discretion,
    and your lips may (D)guard knowledge.
For the lips of (E)a forbidden[a] woman drip honey,
    and her speech[b] is (F)smoother than oil,
but in the end she is (G)bitter as (H)wormwood,
    (I)sharp as (J)a two-edged sword.
Her feet (K)go down to death;
    her steps follow the path to[c] Sheol;
she (L)does not ponder the path of life;
    her ways wander, and she does not know it.

And (M)now, O sons, listen to me,
    and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
Keep your way far from her,
    and do not go near the door of her house,
lest you give your honor to others
    and your years to the merciless,
10 lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
    and your (N)labors go to the house of a foreigner,
11 and at the end of your life you (O)groan,
    when your flesh and body are consumed,
12 and you say, (P)“How I hated discipline,
    and my heart (Q)despised reproof!
13 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
    or incline my ear to my instructors.
14 (R)I am at the brink of utter ruin
    in the assembled congregation.”

15 Drink (S)water from your own cistern,
    flowing water from your own well.
16 Should your (T)springs be scattered abroad,
    streams of water (U)in the streets?
17 (V)Let them be for yourself alone,
    and not for strangers with you.
18 Let your (W)fountain be blessed,
    and (X)rejoice in (Y)the wife of your youth,
19     a lovely (Z)deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts (AA)fill you at all times with delight;
    be intoxicated[d] always in her love.
20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with (AB)a forbidden woman
    and embrace the bosom of (AC)an adulteress?[e]
21 For (AD)a man's ways are (AE)before the eyes of the Lord,
    and he (AF)ponders[f] all his paths.
22 The (AG)iniquities of the wicked (AH)ensnare him,
    and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
23 (AI)He dies for lack of discipline,
    and because of his great folly he is (AJ)led astray.

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 5:3 Hebrew strange; also verse 20
  2. Proverbs 5:3 Hebrew palate
  3. Proverbs 5:5 Hebrew lay hold of
  4. Proverbs 5:19 Hebrew be led astray; also verse 20
  5. Proverbs 5:20 Hebrew a foreign woman
  6. Proverbs 5:21 Or makes level

Warning Against Adultery

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

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

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

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

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 5:9 Or years