Day 5     Proverbs 5

 Voice talent by Don Bratschie

5:1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:

 

5:2 that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.

 

5:3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,

 

5:4 But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.

 

5:5 Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.

 

5:6 She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it.

 

5:7 Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don't depart from the words of my mouth.

 

5:8 Remove your way far from her. Don't come near the door of her house,

 

5:9 lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;

 

5:10 lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man's house.

 

5:11 You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,

 

5:12 and say, "How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

 

5:13 neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!

 

5:14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly."

 

5:15 Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.

 

5:16 Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?

 

5:17 Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.

 

5:18 Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.

 

5:19 A loving doe and a graceful deer-- let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.

 

5:20 For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?

 

5:21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord. He examines all his paths.

 

5:22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.

5:23 He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.