CHAPTER 5
1 My son, perceive thou my wisdom, and bow down thine ear to my prudence; (My son, pay attention to my wisdom, and listen to my understanding of things;)
2 (so) that thou keep thy thoughts (proper), and thy lips keep teaching (or and thy lips speak knowingly).
3 Give thou not attention to the falseness of a woman; for the lips of an whore be an honeycomb dropping (or for a whore’s lipsbe like a dripping honeycomb), and her throat is clearer than oil;
4 but the last things [of her]be(as) bitter as wormwood, and her tongue is(as) sharp as a sword carving, (or cutting), on each side.
5 Her feet go down into death; and her steps pierce to hells. (Her feet go downward unto death; and her steps shall lead thee unto Sheol, or the land of the dead, or and her steps shall lead thee to hell.)
6 Those go not by the path of life; her steps be uncertain, and may not be sought out. (They do not go on the path of life; her steps be uncertain, and should not be followed.)
7 Now therefore, my son, hear thou me, (or And so now, my son, listen to me), and go thou not away from the words of my mouth.
8 Make far thy way from her (or Make thy way far away from her), and nigh thou not to the doors of her house.
9 Give thou not thine honour to aliens (or Give thou not thy honour to strangers), and thy years to the cruel;
10 lest peradventure strangers be filled with thy strengths, and lest (the rewards of) thy travails be in an alien’s house; (lest perhaps strangers take all thy wealth, and the rewards of all thy efforts be in someone else’s house;)
11 and thou bewail in the last days, when thou hast wasted thy flesh, and thy body;
12 and say, Why loathed I teaching, and mine heart assented not to blamings; (and thou say, Why did I loathe discipline, and why did I not listen to rebukes;)
13 neither I heard the voice of men teaching me, and I bowed not down mine ear to masters?
14 Almost I was in all-evil, in the midst of the church, and of the synagogue. (I was almost uniformly despised, in the midst of the congregation, and among those in the assembly.)
15 Drink thou water of thy cistern, and the floods of thy well. (Drink thou water from thy own cistern, and the out-flowings from thy own well.)
16 Thy wells be streamed forth; and part thy waters in streets. (Let thy well floweth forth; and let thy water be parted in the streets.)
17 Have thou alone them; and aliens be not thy partners. (Have thou them alone; and let not strangers be thy partners.)
18 Thy vein be blessed (or Let thy fountain be blessed); and be thou glad with the woman of thy young waxing age.
19 An hind most dearworthy; and an hart calf most acceptable. Her teats fill thee in all time; and delight thou continually in the love of her. (She is like a most dearworthy deer; and a most acceptable hart calf. Let her breasts fulfill, or satisfy, thee at all times; and delight thou continually in her love.)
20 My son, why art thou deceived of an alien woman; and art fostered in the bosom of another? (My son, why art thou deceived by a strange, or an unknown, woman; and why art thou comforted in the bosom of another?)
21 The Lord seeth the way(s) of a man; and he beholdeth all his steps.
22 The wickednesses of a wicked man take (hold of) him; and he is bound with the ropes of his sins.
23 He shall die, for he had not learning, (or He shall die, for he had no discipline); and he shall be deceived in the muchliness of his folly.