Proverbs 5

Legacy Standard Bible

^7 (N)So now, my sons, listen to me
And ^(O)do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
^8 (P)Keep your way far from her
And do not go near the ^(Q)door of her house,
⁹ Lest you give your splendor to others
And your years to the cruel one;
¹⁰ Lest strangers be satisfied by your strength
And by your painful labor, those in the house of a foreigner;
¹¹ And you groan at your ^[b]end,
When your flesh and your body are consumed;
¹² And you say, “How I have ^(R)hated discipline!
And my heart ^(S)spurned reproof!
¹³ I have not listened to the voice of my ^(T)instructors,
And I have not inclined my ear to my teachers!
¹⁴ I was almost in utter ruin
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern
And ^[c]fresh water from your own well.
¹⁶ Should your ^(U)springs be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets?
¹⁷ Let them be for you alone,
And not for strangers with you.
¹⁸ Let your ^(V)fountain be blessed,
And ^(W)be glad in the ^(X)wife of your youth.
¹⁹ As a loving ^(Y)hind and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be ^[d]intoxicated always with her love.
²⁰ So why should you, my son, be intoxicated with a ^(Z)strange woman
And embrace the bosom of a ^(AA)foreign woman?
²¹ For the ^(AB)ways of a man are before the eyes of Yahweh,
And He ^(AC)watches all his tracks.
²² His ^(AD)own iniquities will capture him who is the wicked one,
And with the cords of his sin he will be held fast.
²³ He will ^(AE)die for lack of discipline,
And in the abundance of his ^[e]folly he will ^[f]stumble in intoxication.