My son, attend unto my wisdom;
Incline thine ear to my understanding:
That thou mayest preserve discretion,
And that thy lips may keep knowledge.
For the lips of a strange woman drop honey,
And her mouth is smoother than oil:
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 evil
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.
Drink waters out of thine own cistern,
And running waters out of thine own well.
{Or, Let}Should thy springs be dispersed abroad,
And streams of water in the streets?
Let them be for thyself alone,
And not for strangers with thee.
Let thy fountain be blessed;
And rejoice in the wife of thy youth.
As a loving hind and a pleasant doe,
Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times;
And {Hebrew: go astray.}be thou ravished always with her love.
For why shouldest thou, my son, {Hebrew: go astray.}be ravished with a strange woman,
And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?
For the ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah;
And he {Or, weigheth carefully}maketh level all his paths.
His own iniquities shall take the wicked,
And he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.
He shall die for lack of instruction;
And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
Querverweise zu Sprüche 5,7 Spr 5,7
Hear, my sons, the instruction of a father,And attend to know understanding:
My son, let them not depart from thine eyes;Keep sound wisdom and discretion:
Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me;For blessed are they that keep my ways.
Hear instruction, and be wise,And refuse it not.
Blessed is the man that heareth me,Watching daily at my gates,Waiting at the posts of my doors.
For whoso findeth me findeth life,And shall {Hebrew: draw forth.}obtain favor of Jehovah.
But he that {Or, misseth me}sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul:All they that hate me love death.
Let them not depart from thine eyes;Keep them in the midst of thy heart.
Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise,And apply thy heart unto my knowledge.
For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee,If they be established together upon thy lips.
That thy trust may be in Jehovah,I have made them known to thee this day, even to thee.
Have not I written unto thee {The word is doubtful. Another reading is, heretofore.}excellent things {Or, in}Of counsels and knowledge,
To make thee know {Or, of a certainty the words &c.}the certainty of the words of truth,That thou mayest carry back words of truth to them that send thee?
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not when they refused him that warned them on earth, much more shall not we escape who turn away from him {Or, that is from heaven}that warneth from heaven: