1Solomon again exhorteth to attend to his wise counsels. 3The mischiefs of whoredom and riot. 15An exhortation to abide by the pleasures of chaste marriage. 22The wicked are overtaken with their own sins.
1MY son, aattend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
a ch. 4.1,20; 1.2-6,8. Is. 55.3. Re. 2.7,11,17,29; 13.9.
2That thou mayest regard discretion, and that bthy lips may keep knowledge.
b Mal. 2.7. ch. 16.23; 10.20; 12.18; 15.2,4. Ca. 4.11.
3¶For cthe lips of a *strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her 1mouth is smoother than oil:
*strange-foreign.
1Heb. palate.
c ch. 2.16; 7.21; 6.24. Ps. 55.21.
4But dher end is bitter as *wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
*wormwood-bitter, oil-yielding plant.
d Ec. 7.26. ch. 2.18,19; 6.26; 7.27; 9.18. Ps. 55.21.
5Her efeet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
e ch. 7.27; 2.18. He. 13.4. Re. 21.8.
6Lest thou shouldest fponder the path of life, her ways are gmoveable, that thou canst not know them.
f Hag. 1.5. Ps. 119.59. De. 32.29. g ch. 7.11-13; 2.16,17. Ec. 7.26.
7hHear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
h Ps. 34.11. ch. 3.1,21; 4.1,20,21; 7.24; 22.17-21. He. 12.25; 2.1,3.
8iRemove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
i ch. 4.14. Ep. 5.11. 1Th. 5.22. Ro. 12.9.
9Lest jthou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
j 1Th. 4.4. Re. 14.9,10. ch. 6.26,33,34; 31.3.
10Lest kstrangers be filled with 2thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
2Heb. thy strength.
k Ho. 7.9. ch. 6.26.
11And lthou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
l Ro. 6.21. He. 12.17. ch. 7.23.
12And say, mHow have I hated instruction, and nmy heart despised reproof;
m Zec. 7.11-14. Ps. 50.17; 73.22. Lu. 19.42. Mat. 23.37. ch. 6.32. 2Ch. 36.15,16. Je. 44.4,5. Zec. 1.4-6. n ch. 1.25; 6.23; 12.1.
13And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
14I owas almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
o ch. 6.26,29,32,33; 7.23. He. 13.4. Re. 22.15.
15¶pDrink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
p v.18,19. Ec. 9.9. 1Co. 7.2-5,9. 1Pe. 3.7. ch. 23.27; 9.17.
16Let thy qfountains be dispersed *abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
*abroad-over a wide area.
q Le. 20.18. De. 33.28. Is. 48.1. Ps. 68.26; 128.2; 127.3.
17Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
18Let rthy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
r 1Co. 7.3. Mal. 2.14. ch. 2.17. Is. 62.5.
19sLet her be as the loving thind and pleasant roe; let her breasts 3satisfy thee at all times; and 4be thou ravished always with her love.
3Heb. water thee.
4Heb. err thou always in her love.
s Ec. 9.9. 1Co. 7.3-5. Ca. 2.9; 7.3-8; 4.5; 1.13. t Ca. 2.7; 3.5.
20And uwhy wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a *strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
*strange-foreign.
u ch. 2.16-19; 6.24-35; 7.13-23; 9.13-18; 23.27,28.
21For vthe ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.
v 2Ch. 16.9. Job 31.4; 34.21. ch. 15.3. Je. 16.17; 32.19. Ho. 7.2. He. 4.13.
22¶His wown iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be *holden with the cords of his 5sins.
*holden-held.
5Heb. sin.
w ch. 11.3,5,6. Ps. 9.15,16. La. 1.14. Je. 2.19. He. 13.4. Ho. 4.11-14.
23He xshall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
x ch. 10.21. Job 4.21; 30.12; 36.12. Ps. 81.12. Re. 22.11. ch. 14.14,32.