Study Desk

For they eat the bread of wickedness And drink the wine of violence.

For they are life to those who find them And health to all their body.

Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

For the lips of an adulteress drip honey And smoother than oil is her speech;

Let them be yours alone And not for strangers with you.

For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He watches all his paths.

He will die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.

My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor, Have given a pledge for a stranger,

For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; And reproofs for discipline are the way of life

For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread, And an adulteress hunts for the precious life.

For jealousy enrages a man, And he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice,

"For my husband is not at home, He has gone on a long journey;

For many are the victims she has cast down, And numerous are all her slain.

"Listen, for I will speak noble things; And the opening of my lips will reveal right things.

"For my mouth will utter truth; And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

"For wisdom is better than jewels; And all desirable things cannot compare with her.

When He set for the sea its boundary So that the water would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth;

"Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, For blessed are they who keep my ways.