Proverbs 5

Παροιμίαι

1 ΥΙΕ, ἐμῇ σοφίᾳ πρόσεχε, ἐμοῖς δὲ λόγοις παράβαλλε σὸν οὗς,

[My] son, attend to my wisdom, and apply your ear to my words;

2 ἵνα φυλάξῃς ἔννοιαν ἀγαθήν· αἴσθησις δὲ ἐμῶν χειλέων ἐντέλλεταί σοι.

that you may keep good understanding, and the discretion of my lips gives you a charge. Give no heed to a worthless woman;

3 μὴ πρόσεχε φαύλῃ γυναικί· μέλι γὰρ ἀποστάζει ἀπὸ χειλέων γυναικὸς πόρνης, ἣ πρὸς καιρὸν λιπαίνει σὸν φάρυγγα,

for honey drops from the lips of a harlot, who for a season pleases your palate:

4 ὕστερον μέντοι πικρότερον χολῆς εὑρήσεις καὶ ἠκονημένον μᾶλλον μαχαίρας διστόμου.

but afterwards you will find her more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword.

5 τῆς γὰρ ἀφροσύνης οἱ πόδες κατάγουσι τοὺς χρωμένους αὐτῇ μετὰ θανάτου εἰς τὸν ᾅδην, τὰ δὲ ἴχνη αὐτῆς οὐκ ἐρείδεται·

For the feet of folly lead those who deal with her down to the grave with death; and her steps are not established.

6 ὁδοὺς γὰρ ζωῆς οὐκ ἐπέρχεται, σφαλεραὶ δὲ αἱ τροχιαὶ αὐτῆς καὶ οὐκ εὔγνωστοι.

For she goes not upon the paths of life; but her ways are slippery, and not easily known.

7 νῦν οὖν, υἱέ, ἄκουέ μου καὶ μὴ ἀκύρους ποιήσῃς ἐμοὺς λόγους.

Now then, [my] son, hear me, and make not my words of none effect.

8 μακρὰν ποίησον ἀπ᾿ αὐτῆς σὴν ὁδόν, μὴ ἐγγίσῃς πρὸς θύραις οἴκων αὐτῆς,

Remove your way far from her; draw not near to the doors of her house:

9 ἵνα μὴ πρόῃ ἄλλοις ζωήν σου καὶ σὸν βίον ἀνελεήμοσιν·

lest you give away your life to others, and your substance to the merciless:

10 ἵνα μὴ πλησθῶσιν ἀλλότριοι σῆς ἰσχύος, οἱ δὲ σοὶ πόνοι εἰς οἴκους ἀλλοτρίων ἔλθωσι

lest strangers be filled with your strength, and your labours come into the houses of strangers;

11 καὶ μεταμεληθήσῃ ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτων, ἡνίκα ἂν κατατριβῶσι σάρκες σωματός σου,

And you repent at last, when the flesh of your body is consumed,

12 καὶ ἐρεῖς· πῶς ἐμίσησα παιδείαν, καὶ ἐλέγχους ἐξέκλινεν ἡ καρδία μου;

and you shall say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart avoided reproofs!

13 οὐκ ἤκουον φωνὴν παιδεύοντός με καὶ διδάσκοντός με, οὐδὲ παρέβαλλον τὸ οὖς μου·

I heard not the voice of him that instructed me, and taught me, neither did I apply my ear.

14 παρ᾿ ὀλίγον ἐγενόμην ἐν παντὶ κακῷ ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας καὶ συναγωγῆς.

I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

15 πῖνε ὕδατα ἀπὸ σῶν ἀγγείων καὶ ἀπὸ σῶν φρεάτων πηγῆς.

Drink waters out of your own vessels, and out of your own springing wells.

16 μὴ ὑπερεκχείσθω σοι ὕδατα ἐκ τῆς σῆς πηγῆς, εἰς δὲ σὰς πλατείας διαπορευέσθω τὰ σὰ ὕδατα·

Let not waters out of your fountain be spilled by you, but let your waters go into your streets.

17 ἔστω σοι μόνῳ ὑπάρχοντα, καὶ μηδεὶς ἀλλότριος μετασχέτω σοι·

Let them be only your own, and let no stranger partake with you.

18 ἡ πηγή σου τοῦ ὕδατος ἔστω σοι ἰδία, καὶ συνευφραίνου μετὰ γυναικὸς τῆς ἐκ νεότητός σου.

Let your fountain of water be [truly] your own; and rejoice with the wife of your youth.

19 ἔλαφος φιλίας καὶ πῶλος σῶν χαρίτων ὁμιλείτω σοι· ἡ δὲ ἰδία ἡγείσθω σου καὶ συνέστω σοι ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ, ἐν γὰρ τῇ ταύτης φιλίᾳ συμπεριφερόμενος πολλοστὸς ἔσῃ.

Let [your] loving hart and your graceful colt company with you, and let her be considered your own, and be with you at all times; for ravished with her love you shall be greatly increased.

20 μὴ πολὺς ἴσθι πρὸς ἀλλοτρίαν, μηδὲ συνέχου ἀγκάλαις τῆς μὴ ἰδίας·

Be not intimate with a strange woman, neither fold yourself in the arms of a woman not your own.

21 ἐνώπιον γάρ εἰσι τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ ὀφθαλμῶν ὁδοὶ ἀνδρός, εἰς δὲ πάσας τὰς τροχιὰς αὐτοῦ σκοπεύει.

For the ways of a man are before the eyes of God, and he looks on all his paths.

22 παρονομίαι ἄνδρα ἀγρεύουσι, σειραῖς δὲ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ ἁμαρτιῶν ἕκαστος σφίγγεται·

Iniquities ensnare a man, and every one is bound in the chains of his own sins.

23 οὗτος τελευτᾷ μετὰ ἀπαιδεύτων, ἐκ δὲ πλήθους τῆς ἑαυτοῦ βιότητος ἐξερρίφη καὶ ἀπώλετο δι᾿ ἀφροσύνην.

Such a man dies with the uninstructed; and he is cast forth from the abundance of his own substance, and has perished through folly.

Greek: the Septuagint as the Orthodox Media Network published it (Mount Athos); 2 Maccabees and the Prayer of Manasseh from Brenton's edition (1851). English: Brenton's translation (1851), its spelling updated by Michael Paul Johnson; public domain. About these texts.