VerseAI

NIV

Proverbs 5

  1. 1<pb/><t>My son, pay attention to my wisdom,</t> <t>turn your ear to my words of insight,</t>
  2. 2<t>that you may maintain discretion</t> <t>and your lips may preserve knowledge.</t>
  3. 3<t>For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,</t> <t>and her speech is smoother than oil;</t>
  4. 4<t>but in the end she is bitter as gall,</t> <t>sharp as a double-edged sword.</t>
  5. 5<t>Her feet go down to death;</t> <t>her steps lead straight to the grave.</t>
  6. 6<t>She gives no thought to the way of life;</t> <t>her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it. <pb/></t>
  7. 7<t>Now then, my sons, listen to me;</t> <t>do not turn aside from what I say.</t>
  8. 8<t>Keep to a path far from her,</t> <t>do not go near the door of her house,</t>
  9. 9<t>lest you lose your honor to others</t> <t>and your dignity<f>[11]</f> to one who is cruel,</t>
  10. 10<t>lest strangers feast on your wealth</t> <t>and your toil enrich the house of another.</t>
  11. 11<t>At the end of your life you will groan,</t> <t>when your flesh and body are spent.</t>
  12. 12<t>You will say, “How I hated discipline!</t> <t>How my heart spurned correction!</t>
  13. 13<t>I would not obey my teachers</t> <t>or turn my ear to my instructors.</t>
  14. 14<t>And I was soon in serious trouble</t> <t>in the assembly of God’s people.” <pb/></t>
  15. 15<t>Drink water from your own cistern,</t> <t>running water from your own well.</t>
  16. 16<t>Should your springs overflow in the streets,</t> <t>your streams of water in the public squares?</t>
  17. 17<t>Let them be yours alone,</t> <t>never to be shared with strangers.</t>
  18. 18<t>May your fountain be blessed,</t> <t>and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.</t>
  19. 19<t>A loving doe, a graceful deer—</t> <t>may her breasts satisfy you always,</t> <t>may you ever be intoxicated with her love.</t>
  20. 20<t>Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?</t> <t>Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman? <pb/></t>
  21. 21<t>For your ways are in full view of the LORD,</t> <t>and he examines all your paths.</t>
  22. 22<t>The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;</t> <t>the cords of their sins hold them fast.</t>
  23. 23<t>For lack of discipline they will die,</t> <t>led astray by their own great folly.</t>