The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, And years of life [are] multiplied to thee.

In a way of wisdom I have directed thee, I have caused thee to tread in paths of uprightness.

In thy walking thy step is not straitened, And if thou runnest, thou stumblest not.

Lay hold on instruction, do not desist, Keep her, for she [is] thy life.

Into the path of the wicked enter not, And be not happy in a way of evil doers.

Avoid it, pass not over into it, Turn aside from it, and pass on.

For they sleep not if they do not evil, And their sleep hath been taken violently away, If they cause not [some] to stumble.

For they have eaten bread of wickedness, And wine of violence they drink.

And the path of the righteous [is] as a shining light, Going and brightening till the day is established,

The way of the wicked [is] as darkness, They have not known at what they stumble.

My son, to my words give attention, To my sayings incline thine ear,

Let them not turn aside from thine eyes, Preserve them in the midst of thy heart.

For life they [are] to those finding them, And to all their flesh healing.

Above every charge keep thy heart, For out of it [are] the outgoings of life.

Turn aside from thee a froward mouth, And perverse lips put far from thee,

Thine eyes do look straightforward, And thine eyelids look straight before thee.

Ponder thou the path of thy feet, And all thy ways [are] established.

Incline not [to] the right or to the left, Turn aside thy foot from evil!

My son! to my wisdom give attention, To mine understanding incline thine ear,

To observe thoughtfulness, And knowledge do thy lips keep.

For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And smoother than oil [is] her mouth,

And her latter end [is] bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a sword [with] mouths.

Her feet are going down to death, Sheol do her steps take hold of.

The path of life — lest thou ponder, Moved have her paths — thou knowest not.

And now, ye sons, hearken to me, And turn not from sayings of my mouth.

Keep far from off her thy way, And come not near unto the opening of her house,

Lest thou give to others thy honour, And thy years to the fierce,

Lest strangers be filled [with] thy power, And thy labours in the house of a stranger,

And thou hast howled in thy latter end, In the consumption of thy flesh and thy food,

And hast said, 'How have I hated instruction, And reproof hath my heart despised,

And I have not hearkened to the voice of my directors, And to my teachers have not inclined mine ear.

As a little thing I have been all evil, In the midst of an assembly and a company.

Drink waters out of thine own cistern, Even flowing ones out of thine own well.

Let thy fountains be scattered abroad, In broad places rivulets of waters.

Let them be to thee for thyself, And not to strangers with thee.

Let thy fountain be blessed, And rejoice because of the wife of thy youth,

A hind of loves, and a roe of grace! Let her loves satisfy thee at all times, In her love magnify thyself continually.

And why dost thou magnify thyself, My son, with a stranger? And embrace the bosom of a strange woman?

For over-against the eyes of Jehovah are the ways of each, And all his paths He is pondering.

His own iniquities do capture the wicked, And with the ropes of his sin he is holden.

He dieth without instruction, And in the abundance of his folly magnifieth himself!

My son! if thou hast been surety for thy friend, Hast stricken for a stranger thy hand,

Hast been snared with sayings of thy mouth, Hast been captured with sayings of thy mouth,

Do this now, my son, and be delivered, For thou hast come into the hand of thy friend. Go, trample on thyself, and strengthen thy friend,

Give not sleep to thine eyes, And slumber to thine eyelids,

Be delivered as a roe from the hand, And as a bird from the hand of a fowler.

Go unto the ant, O slothful one, See her ways and be wise;

Which hath not captain, overseer, and ruler,

She doth prepare in summer her bread, She hath gathered in harvest her food.

Till when, O slothful one, dost thou lie? When dost thou arise from thy sleep?

A little sleep, a little slumber, A little clasping of the hands to rest,

And thy poverty hath come as a traveller, And thy want as an armed man.

A man of worthlessness, a man of iniquity, Walking [with] perverseness of mouth,

Winking with his eyes, speaking with his feet, Directing with his fingers,

Frowardness [is] in his heart, devising evil at all times, Contentions he sendeth forth.

Therefore suddenly cometh his calamity, Instantly he is broken — and no healing.

These six hath Jehovah hated, Yea, seven [are] abominations to His soul.

Eyes high — tongues false — And hands shedding innocent blood —

A heart devising thoughts of vanity — Feet hasting to run to evil —

A false witness [who] doth breathe out lies — And one sending forth contentions between brethren.

Keep, my son, the command of thy father, And leave not the law of thy mother.

Bind them on thy heart continually, Tie them on thy neck.

In thy going up and down, it leadeth thee, In thy lying down, it watcheth over thee, And thou hast awaked — it talketh [with] thee.

For a lamp [is] the command, And the law a light, And a way of life [are] reproofs of instruction,

To preserve thee from an evil woman, From the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

Desire not her beauty in thy heart, And let her not take thee with her eyelids.

For a harlot consumeth unto a cake of bread, And an adulteress the precious soul hunteth.

Doth a man take fire into his bosom, And are his garments not burnt?

Doth a man walk on the hot coals, And are his feet not scorched?

So [is] he who hath gone in unto the wife of his neighbour, None who doth touch her is innocent.

They do not despise the thief, When he stealeth to fill his soul when he is hungry,

And being found he repayeth sevenfold, All the substance of his house he giveth.

He who committeth adultery [with] a woman lacketh heart, He is destroying his soul who doth it.

A stroke and shame he doth find, And his reproach is not wiped away,

For jealousy [is] the fury of a man, And he doth not spare in a day of vengeance.

He accepteth not the appearance of any atonement, Yea, he doth not consent, Though thou dost multiply bribes!

My son! keep my sayings, And my commands lay up with thee.

Keep my commands, and live, And my law as the pupil of thine eye.

Bind them on thy fingers, Write them on the tablet of thy heart.

Say to wisdom, 'My sister Thou [art].' And cry to understanding, 'Kinswoman!'

To preserve thee from a strange woman, From a stranger who hath made smooth her sayings.

For, at a window of my house, Through my casement I have looked out,

And I do see among the simple ones, I discern among the sons, A young man lacking understanding,

Passing on in the street, near her corner, And the way [to] her house he doth step,

In the twilight — in the evening of day, In the darkness of night and blackness.

And, lo, a woman to meet him — (A harlot's dress, and watchful of heart,

Noisy she [is], and stubborn, In her house her feet rest not.

Now in an out-place, now in broad places, And near every corner she lieth in wait) —

And she laid hold on him, and kissed him, She hath hardened her face, and saith to him,

'Sacrifices of peace-offerings [are] by me, To-day I have completed my vows.

Therefore I have come forth to meet thee, To seek earnestly thy face, and I find thee.

[With] ornamental coverings I decked my couch, Carved works — cotton of Egypt.

I sprinkled my bed — myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

Come, we are filled [with] loves till the morning, We delight ourselves in loves.

For the man is not in his house, He hath gone on a long journey.

A bag of money he hath taken in his hand, At the day of the new moon he cometh to his house.'

She turneth him aside with the abundance of her speech, With the flattery of her lips she forceth him.

He is going after her straightway, As an ox unto the slaughter he cometh, And as a fetter unto the chastisement of a fool,

Till an arrow doth split his liver, As a bird hath hastened unto a snare, And hath not known that it [is] for its life.

And now, ye sons, hearken to me, And give attention to sayings of my mouth.