God's New Bible

The Proverbs

⭑ Douay-Rheims :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

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- Chapter 5 -

Admonition to marriage. Warning against unchastity

(Leviticus 20:10-21; 1 Corinthians 5:1-8)
1
My son, attend to my wisdom, and incline thy ear to my prudence.
2
That thou mayst keep thoughts, and thy lips may preserve instruction. Mind not the deceit of a woman.
3
For the lips of a harlot are like a honeycomb dropping, and her throat is smoother than oil.
4
But her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edged sword.
5
Her feet go down into death, and her steps go in as far as hell.
6
They walk not by the path of life, her steps are wandering, and unaccountable.
7
Now therefore, my son, hear me, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
8
Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the doors of her house.
9
Give not thy honour to strangers, and thy years to the cruel.
10
Lest strangers be filled with thy strength, and thy labours be in another man’s house,
11
And thou mourn it the last, when thou shalt have spent thy flesh and thy body, and say:
12
Why have I hated instruction, and my heart consented not to reproof,
13
And have not heard the voice of them that taught me, and have not inclined my ear to masters?
14
I have almost been in all evil, in the midst of the church and of the congregation.

Married life

15
Drink water out of thy own cistern, and the streams of thy own well:
16
Let thy fountains be conveyed abroad, and in the streets divide thy waters.
17
Keep them to thyself alone, neither let strangers be partakers with thee.
18
Let thy vein be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth:
19
Let her be thy dearest hind, and most agreeable fawn: let her breasts inebriate thee at all times; he thou delighted continually with her love.
20
Why art thou seduced, my son, by a strange woman, and art cherished in the bosom of another?
21
The Lord beholdeth the ways of man, and considereth all his steps.
22
His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is fast bound with the ropes of his own sins.
23
He shall die, because he hath not received instruction, and in the multitude of his folly he shall be deceived.

Admonition to marriage. Warning against unchastity

(Leviticus 20:10-21; 1 Corinthians 5:1-8)
1
My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding,
2
that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.
3
For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,
4
but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
5
Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.(a)
6
She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it.
7
Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth.
8
Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house,
9
lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;
10
lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man’s house.
11
You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
12
and say, “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof.
13
I haven’t obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!
14
I have come to the brink of utter ruin, among the gathered assembly.”

Married life

15
Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.
16
Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
17
Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.
18
Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19
A loving doe and a graceful deer— let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.
20
For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?
21
For the ways of man are before the LORD’s eyes. He examines all his paths.
22
The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
23
He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.

Footnotes

(a)5:5 Sheol is the place of the dead.
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