Scripture Readings

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Proverbs 5:1-15 (Vespers, 2nd reading)

1
My son, pay attention to my wisdom; lend your ear to my understanding,
2
that you may preserve discretion, and your lips may keep knowledge.
3
For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil;
4
but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
5
Her feet go down to death, her steps lay hold of hell.
6
Lest you ponder her path of life – her ways are unstable; you do not know them.
7
Therefore hear me now, my children, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8
Remove your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house,
9
lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;
10
lest aliens be filled with your wealth, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner;
11
and you mourn at last, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
12
and say: “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised correction!”
13
I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!
14
I was on the verge of total ruin, in the midst of the assembly and congregation.”
15
Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.