My son, if thou wilt receive my words,
And lay up my commandments with thee;
So as to incline thine ear unto wisdom,
And apply thy heart to understanding;
Yea, if thou cry after discernment,
And lift up thy voice for understanding;
If thou seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hid treasures:
Then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah,
And find the knowledge of God.
For Jehovah giveth wisdom;
Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding:
He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright;
{Or, And a shield for &c.}He is a shield to them that walk in integrity;
{Or, That they may keep}That he may guard the paths of justice,
{Or, Yea he preserveth}And preserve the way of his saints.
Then shalt thou understand righteousness and justice,
And equity, yea, every good path.
For wisdom shall enter into thy heart,
And knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul;
Discretion shall watch over thee;
Understanding shall keep thee:
To deliver thee from the way of {Or, the evil man}evil,
From the men that speak perverse things;
Who forsake the paths of uprightness,
To walk in the ways of darkness;
Who rejoice to do evil,
And delight in the perverseness of {Or, the evil man}evil;
Who are crooked in their ways,
And wayward in their paths:
To deliver thee from the strange woman,
Even from the foreigner that {Hebrew: maketh smooth her words.}flattereth with her words;
That forsaketh the {Or, guide}friend of her youth,
And forgetteth the covenant of her God:
For {Or, she sinketh down unto death, which is her house}her house inclineth unto death,
And her paths unto {Or, the shades Hebrew: Rephaim.}the dead;
None that go unto her return again,
Neither do they attain unto the paths of life:
That thou mayest walk in the way of good men,
And keep the paths of the righteous.
For the upright shall dwell in the {Or, earth}land,
And the perfect shall remain in it.
But the wicked shall be cut off from the {Or, earth}land,
And the treacherous shall be rooted out of it.
Querverweise zu Sprüche 2,18 Spr 2,18
But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;Her steps take hold on Sheol;
{Or, Lest thou find the level &c. Or, Lest thou weigh carefully the path of life}So that she findeth not the level path of life:Her ways are unstable, and {Or, thou canest not know them}she knoweth it not.
Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me,And depart not from the words of my mouth.
Remove thy way far from her,And come not nigh the door of her house;
Lest thou give thine honor unto others,And thy years unto the cruel;
Lest strangers be filled with thy {Or, wealth}strength,And thy labors be in the house of an alien,
And thou {Or, groan}mourn at thy latter end,When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
And say, How have I hated instruction,And my heart despised reproof;
Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers,Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
I was well-nigh in all evilIn the midst of the assembly and congregation.
For on account of a harlot a man is brought to a piece of bread;And {Hebrew: a man's wife.}the adulteress hunteth for the precious life.
Can a man take fire in his bosom,And his clothes not be burned?
Or can one walk upon hot coals,And his feet not be scorched?
So he that goeth in to his neighbor's wife;Whosoever toucheth her shall not be {Hebrew: held innocent.}unpunished.
Men do not despise a thief, if he stealTo satisfy {Or, his appetite}himself when he is hungry:
But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold;He shall give all the substance of his house.
He that committeth adultery with a woman is void of {Hebrew: heart.}understanding:He doeth it who would destroy his own soul.
Wounds and dishonor shall he get;And his reproach shall not be wiped away.
For jealousy is the rage of a man;And he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
He will not regard any ransom;Neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.
He goeth after her {Hebrew: suddenly.}straightway,As an ox goeth to the slaughter,Or as one in {The Hebrew is obsure.}fetters to the correction of the fool;
Till an arrow strike through his liver;As a bird hasteth to the snare,And knoweth not that it is for his life.
Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me,And attend to the words of my mouth.
Let not thy heart decline to her ways;Go not astray in her paths.
For she hath cast down many wounded:Yea, all her slain are a mighty host.
Her house is the way to Sheol,Going down to the chambers of death.
But he knoweth not that {Or, the shades Hebrew: Rephaim.}the dead are there;That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men,
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
And such were some of you: but ye {Greek: washed yourselves.}were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, {Greek: heresies.}parties,
envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I {Or, tell you plainly}forewarn you, even as I did {Or, tell you plainly}forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
For this ye know of a surety, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.
Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loveth and {Or, doeth}maketh a lie.