Add parallel Print Page Options

Fili mi, attende ad sapientiam meam, et prudentiae meae inclina aurem tuam:

ut custodias cogitationes, et disciplinam labia tua conservent. Ne attendas fallaciae mulieris;

favus enim distillans labia meretricis, et nitidius oleo guttur ejus:

novissima autem illius amara quasi absinthium, et acuta quasi gladius biceps.

Pedes ejus descendunt in mortem, et ad inferos gressus illius penetrant.

Per semitam vitae non ambulant; vagi sunt gressus ejus et investigabiles.

Nunc ergo fili mi, audi me, et ne recedas a verbis oris mei.

Longe fac ab ea viam tuam, et ne appropinques foribus domus ejus.

Ne des alienis honorem tuum, et annos tuos crudeli:

10 ne forte impleantur extranei viribus tuis, et labores tui sint in domo aliena,

11 et gemas in novissimis, quando consumpseris carnes tuas et corpus tuum, et dicas:

12 Cur detestatus sum disciplinam, et increpationibus non acquievit cor meum,

13 nec audivi vocem docentium me, et magistris non inclinavi aurem meam?

14 pene fui in omni malo, in medio ecclesiae et synagogae.

15 Bibe aquam de cisterna tua, et fluenta putei tui;

16 deriventur fontes tui foras, et in plateis aquas tuas divide.

17 Habeto eas solus, nec sint alieni participes tui.

18 Sit vena tua benedicta, et laetare cum muliere adolescentiae tuae.

19 Cerva carissima, et gratissimus hinnulus: ubera ejus inebrient te in omni tempore; in amore ejus delectare jugiter.

20 Quare seduceris, fili mi, ab aliena, et foveris in sinu alterius?

21 Respicit Dominus vias hominis, et omnes gressus ejus considerat.

22 Iniquitates suas capiunt impium, et funibus peccatorum suorum constringitur.

23 Ipse morietur, quia non habuit disciplinam, et in multitudine stultitiae suae decipietur.

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