12
And say: "How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction!
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I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!
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I was on the verge of total ruin, In the midst of the assembly and congregation."
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Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well.
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Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets?
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Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you.
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Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth.
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As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love.
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For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?
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For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He ponders all his paths.
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His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin.
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He shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.