- 1
- My sonne geue heede vnto my wisdome, and bowe thyne eare vnto my prudence:
- 2
- That thou mayest regarde good counsell, and that thy lippes may kepe knowledge.
- 3
- For the lippes of a straunge woman are a dropping hony combe, and her throte is more glistering then oyle:
- 4
- But at the laste she is as bitter as wormewood, and as sharpe as a two edged sworde.
- 5
- Her feete go downe vnto death, and her steppes pearce thorowe vnto hell.
- 6
- Perchaunce thou wylt ponder the path of her lyfe: so vnstedfast are her wayes that thou canst not know them.
- 7
- Heare me nowe therefore O ye chyldren, and depart not from the wordes of my mouth.
- 8
- Kepe thy way farre from her, & come not nigh the doores of her house.
- 9
- That thou geue not thy honour vnto other, and thy yeres to the cruell:
- 10
- That other men be not filled with thy vertues, and that thy labours come not in a straunge house.
- 11
- Yea, that thou mourne not at the last, when thou hast spent thy bodye and lustie youth, and then say:
- 12
- Alas, why hated I nurture?
why did my heart dispise correction?
- 13
- Wherefore was not I obedient vnto the voyce of my teachers, and hearkened not vnto them that enfourmed me?
- 14
- I was come almost into all misfortune, in the middest of the multitude and congregation.
- 15
- Drinke of the water of thyne owne well, and of the riuers that runne out of thyne owne spring.
- 16
- Let thy welles flowe out abrode, that there may be riuers of waters in the streates:
- 17
- But let them be onlye thyne owne, and not straungers with thee.
- 18
- Let thy well be blessed, and be glad with the wyfe of thy youth.
- 19
- Let her be as the louyng Hinde and pleasaunt Roe: let her breastes alway satisfie thee, and holde thee euer content with her loue.
- 20
- Why wylt thou my sonne haue pleasure in a straunge woman, and embrace the bosome of a straunger?
- 21
- For euery mans wayes are open in the sight of the Lord, and he pondereth all their goynges.
- 22
- The wickednes of the vngodly shall catche him selfe, and with the snares of his owne sinne shall he be trapped.
- 23
- He shall dye without amendement, and for his great foolishnes he shall go astray.
|