Passage

Proverbs 5

Book: Proverbs · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. My son, attend unto my wisdom; Incline thine ear to my understanding: 2. That thou mayest preserve discretion, And that thy lips may keep knowledge. 3. For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil: 4. But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. 5. Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold on Sheol; 6. So that she findeth not the level path of life: Her ways are unstable, and she knoweth it not. 7. Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me, And depart not from the words of my mouth. 8. Remove thy way far from her, And come not nigh the door of her house; 9. Lest thou give thine honor unto others, And thy years unto the cruel; 10. Lest strangers be filled with thy strength, And thy labors be in the house of an alien, 11. And thou mourn at thy latter end, When thy flesh and thy body are consumed, 12. And say, How have I hated instruction, And my heart despised reproof; 13. Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! 14. I was well-nigh in all evil In the midst of the assembly and congregation. 15. Drink waters out of thine own cistern, And running waters out of thine own well. 16. Should thy springs be dispersed abroad, And streams of water in the streets? 17. Let them be for thyself alone, And not for strangers with thee. 18. Let thy fountain be blessed; And rejoice in the wife of thy youth. 19. As a loving hind and a pleasant doe, Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; And be thou ravished always with her love. 20. For why shouldest thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, And embrace the bosom of a foreigner? 21. For the ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah; And he maketh level all his paths. 22. His own iniquities shall take the wicked, And he shall be holden with the cords of his sin. 23. He shall die for lack of instruction; And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray." (Proverbs 5:1-23, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding: 2. that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge. 3. For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil, 4. but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword. 5. Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol. 6. She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it. 7. Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth. 8. Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house, 9. lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one; 10. lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man’s house. 11. You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed, 12. and say, “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; 13. neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me! 14. I have come to the brink of utter ruin, among the gathered assembly.” 15. Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well. 16. Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares? 17. Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you. 18. Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. 19. A loving doe and a graceful deer, let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love. 20. For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another? 21. For the ways of man are before Yahweh’s eyes. He examines all his paths. 22. The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly. 23. He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray." (Proverbs 5:1-23, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: 2. That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. 3. For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: ^{mouth: Heb. palate} 4. But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. 5. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. 6. Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. 7. Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. 8. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: 9. Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: 10. Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; ^{thy wealth: Heb. thy strength} 11. And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, 12. And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; 13. And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! 14. I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. 15. Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. 16. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. 17. Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee. 18. Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. 19. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. ^{satisfy: Heb. water thee} ^{be thou: Heb. err thou always in her love} 20. And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? 21. For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings. 22. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. ^{sins: Heb. sin} 23. He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray." (Proverbs 5:1-23, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. My son! to my wisdom give attention, To mine understanding incline thine ear, 2. To observe thoughtfulness, And knowledge do thy lips keep. 3. For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And smoother than oil [is] her mouth, 4. And her latter end [is] bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a sword [with] mouths. 5. Her feet are going down to death, Sheol do her steps take hold of. 6. The path of life, lest thou ponder, Moved have her paths, thou knowest not. 7. And now, ye sons, hearken to me, And turn not from sayings of my mouth. 8. Keep far from off her thy way, And come not near unto the opening of her house, 9. Lest thou give to others thy honour, And thy years to the fierce, 10. Lest strangers be filled [with] thy power, And thy labours in the house of a stranger, 11. And thou hast howled in thy latter end, In the consumption of thy flesh and thy food, 12. And hast said, 'How have I hated instruction, And reproof hath my heart despised, 13. And I have not hearkened to the voice of my directors, And to my teachers have not inclined mine ear. 14. As a little thing I have been all evil, In the midst of an assembly and a company. 15. Drink waters out of thine own cistern, Even flowing ones out of thine own well. 16. Let thy fountains be scattered abroad, In broad places rivulets of waters. 17. Let them be to thee for thyself, And not to strangers with thee. 18. Let thy fountain be blessed, And rejoice because of the wife of thy youth, 19. A hind of loves, and a roe of grace! Let her loves satisfy thee at all times, In her love magnify thyself continually. 20. And why dost thou magnify thyself, My son, with a stranger? And embrace the bosom of a strange woman? 21. For over-against the eyes of Jehovah are the ways of each, And all his paths He is pondering. 22. His own iniquities do capture the wicked, And with the ropes of his sin he is holden. 23. He dieth without instruction, And in the abundance of his folly magnifieth himself!" (Proverbs 5:1-23, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Spirit of Whoredom or Seduction

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.