15 Drink water from your own cistern,
And [a]fresh water from your own well.
16 Should your (A)springs overflow into the street,
Streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be yours alone,
And not for strangers with you.
18 Let your (B)fountain be blessed,
And (C)rejoice in the (D)wife of your youth.
19 Like a loving (E)doe and a graceful mountain goat,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be [b]exhilarated always with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an [c](F)adulteress,
And embrace the breasts of a (G)foreigner?
21 For the (H)ways of everyone are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He (I)observes all his paths.
22 His (J)own wrongdoings will trap the wicked,
And he will be held by the ropes of his sin.
23 He will (K)die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his foolishness he will go astray.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 5:15 Lit flowing
  2. Proverbs 5:19 Lit intoxicated
  3. Proverbs 5:20 Lit strange woman

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