Proverbs 5
King James Version (KJV)
1My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee.
18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.
22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
Proverbs 5
Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding; 2 so that you will preserve discretion and your lips keep watch over knowledge.
3 For the lips of a woman who is a stranger drop honey, her mouth is smoother than oil; 4 but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death, her steps lead straight to Sh’ol; 6 she doesn’t walk the level path of life — her course wanders all over, but she doesn’t know it. 7 So now, children, listen to me; don’t turn away from what I am saying: 8 distance your way from her, stay far from the door of her house; 9 so that you won’t give your vigor to others and your years to someone who is cruel, 10 so strangers won’t be filled with your strength and what you worked for go to a foreign house. 11 Then, when your flesh and bones have shrunk, at the end of your life, you would moan, 12 “How I hated discipline! My whole being despised reproof, 13 I ignored what my teachers said, I didn’t listen to my instructors. 14 I took part in almost every kind of evil, and the whole community knew it.”
15 Drink the water from your own cistern, fresh water from your own well. 16 Let what your springs produce be dispersed outside, streams of water flowing in the streets; 17 but let them be for you alone and not for strangers with you. 18 Let your fountain, the wife of your youth, be blessed; find joy in her — 19 a lovely deer, a graceful fawn; let her breasts satisfy you at all times, always be infatuated with her love. 20 My son, why be infatuated with an unknown woman? Why embrace the body of a loose woman? 21 For Adonai is watching a man’s ways; he surveys all his paths. 22 A wicked person’s own crimes will trap him, he will be held fast by the ropes of his sin. 23 He will die from lack of discipline; the magnitude of his folly will make him totter and fall.
Verses 1-7:
1My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: :
2 That thou mayest regard discretion,
and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth
is smoother than oil:
4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps take hold on hell.6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life,
her ways are moveable,
that thou canst not know them.
7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Oh, that we would actually attend to the hard won wisdom of our elders: even so much more, our Father!
But, no, we are enticed away from that wisdom, by “her”….
whoever, or whatever, we choose to let “her” be.
Fast income, better homes, better cars, more…. stuff.
We think we know much more than our elders can
possibly teach us. Why can’t we realize…
they’ve been down this path before us??? They had the
same temptations that we face. Their lives may have been in a simpler time,
but, they faced temptation just as we all do.
If we would only listen, and attend, to their hard won wisdom!
Temptation is a very cruel mistress.
Just when you think it has been satisfied: it raises its enticing head yet again.
We are swept away again…will it ever end?
Only when we realize that the end is very bitter:
that temptation is just that. It is never satisfied.
Not ever.We may spend most of our lives falling for its’ lies.
The empty promises of a brighter future.
Promises that will never be kept: the only Promise Keeper that
we can rely on is our Father!!!!
We need to hear His Words now: not later…..
we would be so much wiser to attend to His Words in our youth
. As we age, we would age gracefully in knowing Him!!!
In knowing that every promise that He ever made: He ALWAYS keeps them!!
Remember that song we sang in Sunday School?
The one about His Promises being ours? That has not changed!
Verses 8-17
8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others,
and thy years unto the cruel:10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth;
and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 And say, How have I hated instruction,
and my heart despised reproof;
13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,
nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern,
and running waters out of thine own well.
16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad,
and rivers of waters in the streets.
17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee.
Let us not waste our time following down the path of temptation.
Let us not waste our youth on that path of destruction.
Giving our very souls,at times, to that enchantress of our destinies.
The ones who take over our thoughts, our lives, and even our homes.
Do you think our Creator is happy with our choices?
That we ignore our teachings, and follow blindly down that path?
Our time is so much better spent, seeking His Wisdom…
that we might, instead, be fruitful in our lives!!
That we might be Blessed by Him, and see that evidence in our lives!
He has so much better for us!
Verses 18-25
18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe;
let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman,
and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord,
and he pondereth all his goings.
22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself,
and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
23 He shall die without instruction;
and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
We all must stay true to the teachings of our Father:
temptation is but a strange bedfellow that none if us need.
Our Father knows our needs before we even ask:
why waste our lives seeking that we do not need?
Our sins will indeed be known in the end, the Lord knows them even now.
Let not our children say that we were slaves to our follies!!!!
Let us all be the teachers of our hard won wisdom,
that our children may learn from us.
Even as we learn from our Lord.
May our hearts always yearn to know Him more.
Seeking God's Heart 