rsv Proverbs:5:3-20 SEEK
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For the lips of a loose woman drip honey ,
and her speech is smoother than oil ;
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but in the end she is bitter as wormwood ,
sharp as a two-edged sword .
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Her feet go down to death ;
her steps follow the path to Sheol ;
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she does not take heed to the path of life ;
her ways wander ,
and she does not know it .
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And now ,
O sons ,
listen to me ,
and do not depart from the words of my mouth .
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Keep your way far from her ,
and do not go near the door of her house ;
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lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless ;
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lest strangers take their fill of your strength ,
and your labors go to the house of an alien ;
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and at the end of your life you groan ,
when your flesh and body are consumed ,
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and you say , "
How I hated discipline ,
and my heart despised reproof !
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I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors .
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I was at the point of utter ruin in the assembled congregation ."
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Drink water from your own cistern ,
flowing water from your own well .
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Should your springs be scattered abroad ,
streams of water in the streets ?
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Let them be for yourself alone ,
and not for strangers with you .
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Let your fountain be blessed ,
and rejoice in the wife of your youth ,
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a lovely hind ,
a graceful doe .
Let her affection fill you at all times with delight ,
be infatuated always with her love .
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Why should you be infatuated ,
my son ,
with a loose woman and embrace the bosom of an adventuress ?