Proverbs 5 — parallel

5:1

My son, attend unto my wisdom; Incline thine ear to my understanding;

My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight,

5:2

That thou mayest preserve discretion, And that thy lips may keep knowledge.

that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.

5:3

For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;

Though the lips drip honey is smoother than oil,

5:4

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

in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.

5:5

Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold on the nether-world;

Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to .

5:6

Lest she should walk the even path of life, Her ways wander, but she knoweth it not.

She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable.

5:7

Now therefore, O ye children, hearken unto me, And depart not from the words of my mouth.

So now, my sons, listen to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth.

5:8

Remove thy way far from her, And come not nigh the door of her house;

Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,

5:9

Lest thou give thy vigour unto others, And thy years unto the cruel;

lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel;

5:10

Lest strangers be filled with thy strength, And thy labours be in the house of an alien;

lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner.

5:11

And thou moan, when thine end cometh, When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are spent,

5:12

And say: ‘How have I hated instruction, And my heart despised reproof;

and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!

5:13

Neither have I hearkened to the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors.

5:14

I was well nigh in all evil In the midst of the congregation and assembly.’

I am on the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.”

5:15

Drink waters out of thine own cistern, And running waters out of thine own well.

Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.

5:16

Let thy springs be dispersed abroad, And courses of water in the streets.

Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?

5:17

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

Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.

5:18

Let thy fountain be blessed; And have joy of the wife of thy youth.

May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:

5:19

A lovely hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; With her love be thou ravished always.

A loving doe, a graceful fawn—may her breasts satisfy you always; by her love forever.

5:20

Why then wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, And embrace the bosom of an alien?

Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom ?

5:21

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He maketh even all his paths.

For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths.

5:22

His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked, And he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.

The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.

5:23

He shall die for lack of instruction; And in the greatness of his folly he shall reel.

He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.