HOLY BIBLE: Proverbs 5 (original) (raw)

15 πῖνε ὕδατα ἀπὸ σῶν ἀγγείων καὶ ἀπὸ σῶν φρεάτων πηγῆς 16 μὴ ὑπερεκχείσθω σοι τὰ ὕδατα ἐκ τῆς σῆς πηγῆς εἰς δὲ σὰς πλατείας διαπορευέσθω τὰ σὰ ὕδατα 17 ἔστω σοι μόνῳ ὑπάρχοντα καὶ μηδεὶς ἀλλότριος μετασχέτω σοι 18 ἡ πηγή σου τοῦ ὕδατος ἔστω σοι ἰδία καὶ συνευφραίνου μετὰ γυναικὸς τῆς ἐκ νεότητός σου 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 20 μὴ πολὺς ἴσθι πρὸς ἀλλοτρίαν μηδὲ συνέχου ἀγκάλαις τῆς μὴ ἰδίας 21 ἐνώπιον γάρ εἰσιν τῶν τοῦ θεοῦ ὀφθαλμῶν ὁδοὶ ἀνδρός εἰς δὲ πάσας τὰς τροχιὰς αὐτοῦ σκοπεύει 22 παρανομίαι ἄνδρα ἀγρεύουσιν σειραῖς δὲ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ ἁμαρτιῶν ἕκαστος σφίγγεται 23 οὗτος τελευτᾷ μετὰ ἀπαιδεύτων ἐκ δὲ πλήθους τῆς ἑαυτοῦ βιότητος ἐξερρίφη καὶ ἀπώλετο δ{I'} ἀφροσύνην

15 Nay, drink, and drink deep, at thy own well, thy own cistern; 16 thence let thy offspring abound, like waters from thy own fountain flowing through the public streets;[3] 17 only let them be thy own, let there be no commerce between thyself and strangers. 18 A blessing on that fountain of thine! take thy pleasure with the bride thy manhood wins for thee. 19 Thy own bride, gentle as a hind, graceful as a doe; be it her bosom that steals away thy senses with the delight of a lover that loves still. 20 What, my son, wouldst thou yield to the wiles of a stranger, dally with her embraces that is none of thine? 21 The Lord is watching, and knows what a man’s errand is, let him betake himself where he will. 22 The sinner will be ensnared by his own guilt, caught in the toils of his own wrong-doing; 23 doomed by his own incontinence, by his own great folly bemused.

15
Bibe aquam de cisterna tua,
et fluenta putei tui; 16
deriventur fontes tui foras,
et in plateis aquas tuas divide. 17
Habeto eas solus,
nec sint alieni participes tui. 18
Sit vena tua benedicta,
et lætare cum muliere adolescentiæ tuæ. 19
Cerva carissima, et gratissimus hinnulus:
ubera ejus inebrient te in omni tempore;
in amore ejus delectare jugiter. 20
Quare seduceris, fili mi, ab aliena,
et foveris in sinu alterius? 21
Respicit Dominus vias hominis,
et omnes gressus ejus considerat. 22
Iniquitates suas capiunt impium,
et funibus peccatorum suorum constringitur. 23
Ipse morietur, quia non habuit disciplinam,
et in multitudine stultitiæ suæ decipietur.

[1] Literally, ‘harlot’, but it would appear from what follows, especially verse 14, that the warning here given is one against adultery, not fornication. It is uncertain, both here and elsewhere in the book, how much the Hebrew term ‘strange woman’ is meant to convey the sense of foreign birth.

[2] Lev. 20.10; cf. Jn. 8.5.

[3] Literally, ‘Let thy fountains be carried out in channels abroad; distribute thy well-water through the streets’; but the phrase evidently refers to a numerous family born in lawful wedlock.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd