The V. Chapter.
[ A] MY sonne, geue hede vnto my wysdo∣me, & bowe thine eare vnto my prudē¦ce: yt thou mayest regarde good coun¦cell, and that thy lippes maye kepe nurtoure.
For the lippes of an harlot are a droppin¦ge hony combe, and hir throte is softer then oyle. But at ye last she is as bitter as worm wod, and as sharpe as a two edged swerde. Hir fete go downe vnto death, and hir step∣pes pearse thorow vnto hell. She regardeth not the path of life, so vnstedfast are hir way¦es, that thou canst not knowe them. Heare me therfore (o my sonne) and departe not frō the wordes of my mouth. Kepe thy waye farre from her, and come not nye ye dores of hir house. That thou geue not thine honor vnto another, and thy yeares to the cruell. [ B] That other men be not fylled with thy goo∣des, & that thy labours come not in a straun∣ge house. Yee that thou mourne not at the last (when thou hast spent thy body and goo¦des) and then saye: Alas, why hated I nur∣toure? why dyd my hert despyse correccion? Wherfore was not I obedient vnto the voy∣ce of my teachers, & herkened not vnto them that infourmed me? I am come almost in to all mysfortune, in the myddest of the multitu∣de and congregacion. Drinke of the water of thine owne well, and of the ryuers that runne out of thine owne sprīges. Let ye wel¦les flowe out a brode, that there maye be ry∣uers of water in the stretes. But let them be only thine owne, & not straungers with the. Let thy well be blessed, and be glad with the wife of thy youth. Louynge is the hynde, [ C] and frendly is the Roo: let her brestes al∣waye satisfie the, and holde the euer content with hir loue. My sonne, why wilt thou ha¦ue pleasure in an harlot, and embrace the bo∣some of another womā? For euery mās way¦es are open in the sight of the LORDE, and he pōdereth all their goinges. The wicked¦nesses of the vngodly shal catch himself, and with the snares of his owne synnes shal he be trapped. Because he wolde not be refour∣med, he shal dye: and for his greate foolish∣nesse he shal be destroyed.