Proverbs Chapter 5
Showing all 23 verses for Proverbs Chapter 5.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: "
"My son, pay close attention to my wisdom - lean in and really listen to what I've come to understand."
I ask you to actually listen before you act, not after you've already made the mistake. Slow down and take advice in before you need it - that's when it can still save you from pain.
"That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. "
"So that you develop good judgement, and only speak from real understanding."
Guard what comes out of your mouth by first guarding what you let into your mind. When your understanding is sound, your words naturally become more trustworthy - that's not a coincidence, it's cause and effect.
"For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: "
"Because the words of a seductive woman are as sweet as honey, and her talk is smoother than oil."
I never ask you to distrust pleasure itself, only to notice when something that feels sweet is quietly steering you away from people who love you. Recognising charm as charm - not automatically as truth - is a form of self-respect, not suspicion.
"But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. "
"But in the end she turns out bitter as a poisonous herb, sharp as a double-edged sword."
I care about where a path actually leads, not just how it feels at the first step. Ask yourself honestly what the end of this looks like before you're too far in to turn back - that one habit alone will spare you enormous pain.
"Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. "
"Her feet head straight for death; every step she takes grips onto the grave."
I don't want fear to be your only reason for staying faithful, but I do want you to be honest about consequences. Real love protects people from harm - including protecting yourself from a road that ends in destruction.
"Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. "
"She never stays still on the path of life long enough for you to work her out - her ways keep shifting, so you can never quite pin her down."
I want you to notice when something in your life keeps you permanently unsettled, always guessing, never quite grounded. That instability itself is a warning sign worth listening to.
"Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. "
"So now listen to me, children, and don't turn away from what I'm telling you."
I keep coming back to you, again and again, because I know how easy it is to drift once a warning has been heard once. Staying close to good counsel, not just hearing it once, is what actually changes a life.
"Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: "
"Keep well away from her - don't even go near her front door."
I never ask you to prove how strong you are by walking right up to danger. Removing yourself from a tempting situation early is wisdom, not weakness - it's how you protect what matters to you before it's at risk.
"Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: "
"Or you'll end up giving away your dignity to others, and hand over the best years of your life to someone merciless."
I want you to value your own years and your own dignity enough not to hand them to someone who won't cherish them the way you deserve. What you spend your best years on is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make.
"Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; "
"Or strangers will end up feasting on your wealth, and everything you've worked hard for will end up in someone else's house."
I notice how easily people give away what they've worked for to relationships that take without giving back. Guard your resources for the people who are actually building a life alongside you.
"And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, "
"And in the end you'll groan with regret, when your body and health are worn out and spent."
I don't want you to reach the later years of your life full of regret for choices made carelessly when you were young. Think now about the person you'll be looking back from later - be kind to them.
"And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; "
"And you'll say, 'How I hated being taught! How my heart despised correction!'"
I'd rather you feel the sting of correction now, while it's still small, than the much deeper sting of regret later. Being teachable today is how you avoid becoming someone who wishes they'd listened.
"And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! "
"'I never listened to my teachers, I never paid attention to those who tried to instruct me!'"
I put people in your life who care enough to correct you - take that seriously while you still have the chance. Refusing good counsel now is a debt you pay with interest later.
"I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. "
"'I came within a hair's breadth of complete ruin, right there in front of everyone.'"
I know how far a small compromise can quietly carry someone before they notice how close to the edge they've come. Pay attention to warning signs early - don't wait until you're standing at the very brink to take them seriously.
"Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. "
"Drink water from your own well - stick to what actually belongs to you."
I want you to find real contentment in what you already have rather than constantly looking outward for something that seems fresher. Gratitude for what's genuinely yours is one of the quietest, most powerful forms of peace.
"Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. "
"Should your own springs really spill out into the streets, your private streams flow out in public for anyone to drink?"
I want the closest, most intimate parts of your life protected, not casually opened to just anyone. What's precious usually needs boundaries to stay precious.
"Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee. "
"Keep them only for yourself - don't share them with strangers."
I honour faithfulness because it's how trust is built and kept safe over a lifetime. Protecting what's exclusive to one relationship is an act of love, not restriction.
"Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. "
"May your fountain be a blessing to you - find your joy in the wife you married when you were young."
I don't just tell you what to avoid - I want you to actively delight in what's good and already yours. Joy nurtured deliberately in your closest relationships is far stronger protection than fear of consequences alone.
"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. "
"Let her be like a graceful deer, a beautiful doe - let her love satisfy you completely, let her affection captivate you always."
I want the love in your closest relationship to be something you actively enjoy, not just something you're faithful to out of obligation. Real fidelity is fuelled by real affection, cultivated on purpose.
"And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? "
"So why, my son, would you be captivated by another man's wife, why would you embrace a stranger?"
I want you to remember what you actually have before you're tempted by what you don't. Comparing the real, cultivated good in your life to a fleeting alternative is often all it takes to see clearly.
"For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings. "
"Because everything a person does is seen by God - he watches and weighs every step you take."
I don't need you to be perfect, but I do want you to live honestly, as though nothing you do is truly hidden - because it never really is, even from yourself. Living that way brings a freedom that secrecy never can.
"His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. "
"The wicked person's own wrongdoing will trap him; he'll be bound tight by the ropes of his own sin."
I want you to see how your own choices can quietly become chains around your own freedom. The good news is that the same is true in reverse - good choices, repeated, become the freedom you're looking for.
"He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray. "
"He will die for lack of self-discipline, lost because of his own overwhelming foolishness."
I care too much about you to let this end on despair - it's never too late to accept correction and change direction. The door back to a wiser path is always open while you're still breathing.