Add parallel Print Page Options

13 Why did I not listen to the voice of my teachers,
    incline my ear to my instructors!
14 I am all but ruined,
    in the midst of the public assembly!”
15 Drink water[a] from your own cistern,
    running water from your own well.
16 Should your water sources be dispersed abroad,
    streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be yours alone,
    not shared with outsiders;
18 Let your fountain be blessed and have joy of the wife of your youth,

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 5:15–16 Water: water may have an erotic meaning as in Sg 4:15, “[You are] a garden fountain, a well of living water.” Eating and drinking can be metaphors expressing the mutuality of love. The wife is the opposite of the adulterous woman; she is not an outsider, not unfeeling, not a destroyer of her husband’s self and goods. The best defense against adultery is appreciating and loving one’s spouse. The best defense against folly is to appreciate and love wisdom.

13 I would not obey my teachers
    or turn my ear to my instructors.
14 And I was soon in serious trouble(A)
    in the assembly of God’s people.”(B)

15 Drink water from your own cistern,
    running water from your own well.
16 Should your springs overflow in the streets,
    your streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be yours alone,
    never to be shared with strangers.
18 May your fountain(C) be blessed,
    and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.(D)

Read full chapter

17 Those who love me I also love,
    and those who seek me find me.

Read full chapter

17 I love those who love me,(A)
    and those who seek me find me.(B)

Read full chapter