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KING JAMES BIBLE · PCE

Proverbs 5:12–20

TEXT EDITION
Pure Cambridge Edition selected
12And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
13And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
14I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
15¶ Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
16Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
17Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee.
18Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
19Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
20And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
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Cross References

All 58 ranked passages are available for comparison.

Proverbs 5:12Cross-references · 20 ranked passages

  1. Open

    1WHOSO loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.

  2. Open

    22How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

  3. Open

    25But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

  4. Open

    7¶ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

  5. Open

    5A fool despiseth his father’s instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.

  6. Open

    13And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?

    14And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.

  7. Open

    4Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.

  8. Open

    19And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

    20For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

  9. Open

    18Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.

  10. Open

    17Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.

  11. Open

    4Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the Lord.

    5Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?

    6But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.

  12. Open

    20And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you.

    21And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the Lord.

    22Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The Lord look upon it, and require it.

  13. Open

    16And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Art thou made of the king’s counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel.

  14. Open

    10And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.

    11¶ Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

  15. Open

    16But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

  16. Open

    9And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

  17. Open

    22So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

  18. Open

    11But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

    12Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.

    13Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts:

    14But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

  19. Open

    29For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord:

    30They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

  20. Open

    23For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

Proverbs 5:13Cross-references · 4 ranked passages

  1. Open

    8He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.

  2. Open

    7Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

  3. Open

    18I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

  4. Open

    12And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;

    13And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.

Proverbs 5:14Cross-references · 6 ranked passages

  1. Open

    20He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

  2. Open

    6Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

    7Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

    8Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

  3. Open

    10But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

    11Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.

    12But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

    13And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;

    14Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:

    15Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

    16But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.

    17These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.

    18For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

  4. Open

    11Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

    12¶ My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.

    13They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.

    14I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.

  5. Open

    1AND Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.

    2And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.

    3And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.

    4And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.

    5And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baal-peor.

    6¶ And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

  6. Open

    7Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

    8Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

    9Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

    10But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

    11Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

    12These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

    13Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

Proverbs 5:15Cross-references · 3 ranked passages

  1. Open

    2Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

    3Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.

    4The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.

    5Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

  2. Open

    4Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

  3. Open

    18Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

    19Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

Proverbs 5:16Cross-references · 7 ranked passages

  1. Open

    3Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.

  2. Open

    3Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

  3. Open

    28Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.

  4. Open

    60And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.

  5. Open

    21And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.

  6. Open

    9And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.

  7. Open

    26Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel.

Proverbs 5:17Cross-references · 0 ranked passages

No linked cross-references are available for this verse.

Proverbs 5:18Cross-references · 4 ranked passages

  1. Open

    9Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.

  2. Open

    14¶ Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.

    15And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

  3. Open

    15A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.

  4. Open

    12A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

Proverbs 5:19Cross-references · 7 ranked passages

  1. Open

    3Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.

  2. Open

    9My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.

  3. Open

    5Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.

  4. Open

    14¶ Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.

  5. Open

    15¶ Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

  6. Open

    17Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

  7. Open

    4And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

Proverbs 5:20Cross-references · 7 ranked passages

  1. Open

    24To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

  2. Open

    5That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

  3. Open

    1BUT king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;

  4. Open

    14The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein.

  5. Open

    27For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

    28She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.

  6. Open

    33Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

  7. Open

    16To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

    17Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

    18For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.

    19None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

WORDS IN THIS PASSAGE

Definitions

Open a word for its full definition and concordance.

DEFINED WORDS

Proverbs 5:12

COMBINED MEANING

say

↗

Sense 1: To speak, declare, tell, or express. Sense 2: What is said.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

hated

↗

Past-tense, participial, or adjectival form of hate, meaning to feel strong dislike, aversion, or enmity toward; in comparisons, to love less.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

instruction

↗

Teaching or information that directs understanding and conduct; correction, discipline, or an instructive warning.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

heart

↗

Sense 1: The bodily organ. Sense 2: The inward person: the mind, will, affections, conscience, or moral character.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

DEFINED WORDS

Proverbs 5:13

COMBINED MEANING

obeyed

↗

Past-tense or past-participial form of obey (to comply with a command, heed authority, or submit).

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

inclined

↗

Bent or turned toward something; disposed or moved in will, heart, attention, or direction.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

ear

↗

Sense 1: The organ of hearing. Sense 2: The seed-bearing head of grain.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

instructed

↗

Taught, trained, informed, directed, counselled, warned, or corrected concerning a matter.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

DEFINED WORDS

Proverbs 5:14

COMBINED MEANING

in

↗

1. A preposition marking position, presence, state, circumstance, manner, means, sphere, reference, relation, association, or participation. 2. As an adverb, inward, inside, or into the place or position referred to.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

evil

↗

Sense 1: Moral wickedness, sin, wrong, or corruption. Sense 2: Harm, misery, calamity, adversity, or punishment.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

midst

↗

The middle, centre, interior, or intervening part of a place, body, company, or condition; among, within, surrounded by, or in the presence of persons or things.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

congregation

↗

1. A gathered assembly, company, or community of people, or the people considered together as a body. 2. In the fixed expressions "tabernacle of the congregation" and "tent of the congregation," part of the name of the appointed meeting place.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

assembly

↗

A company or congregation gathered together; the act, occasion, or appointed meeting of gathering, whether common, civil, military, or solemn.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

DEFINED WORDS

Proverbs 5:15

COMBINED MEANING

out

↗

Outside, away from within, forth, absent, or no longer in a stated condition.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

cistern

↗

A reservoir, pit, or receptacle made to collect and hold water.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

running

↗

That which runs or flows; the act of running or passing with speed; the discharge of an ulcer or other sore.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

DEFINED WORDS

Proverbs 5:16

COMBINED MEANING

let

↗

Sense 1: To allow or permit; in older KJV use, also to hinder or restrain. Sense 2: To lower or send down.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

dispersed

↗

Past-tense, participial, or adjectival form of disperse, meaning to scatter, spread, distribute, or send persons or things apart among different places, peoples, or hearers.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

abroad

↗

Out of doors or away from one’s usual place; outward, away, or throughout a wide area.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Skeat 1893

COMBINED MEANING

in

↗

1. A preposition marking position, presence, state, circumstance, manner, means, sphere, reference, relation, association, or participation. 2. As an adverb, inward, inside, or into the place or position referred to.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

DEFINED WORDS

Proverbs 5:17

COMBINED MEANING

let

↗

Sense 1: To allow or permit; in older KJV use, also to hinder or restrain. Sense 2: To lower or send down.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

DEFINED WORDS

Proverbs 5:18

COMBINED MEANING

let

↗

Sense 1: To allow or permit; in older KJV use, also to hinder or restrain. Sense 2: To lower or send down.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

blessed

↗

1. Favoured by God, endowed with good, or declared happy. 2. Spoke good of, praised, thanked, or bestowed a blessing upon.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

rejoice

↗

1. To be glad, take joy, delight, or exult; to express gladness. 2. To make glad or cause to rejoice.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

youth

↗

Sense 1: The period of life following childhood and preceding mature age. Sense 2: A young person or young people.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

DEFINED WORDS

Proverbs 5:19

COMBINED MEANING

let

↗

Sense 1: To allow or permit; in older KJV use, also to hinder or restrain. Sense 2: To lower or send down.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

loving

↗

Present-participial or verbal-noun form of love, meaning to regard with affection or devotion.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

breasts

↗

Plural form of breast (the front part of the body between the neck and the belly).

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

satisfy

↗

To gratify wants, wishes or desires to the full extent; to supply possession or enjoyment till no more is desired.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

thou

↗

The singular second-person subject pronoun, meaning you when directly addressing one person, being, or individually treated addressee.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

ravished

↗

Carried away or overcome by love or delight; in contexts of violence, sexually violated by force.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

love

↗

Sense 1: Affection, attachment, delight, goodwill, commitment, or devotion. Sense 2: To regard with affection or devotion. Sense 3: A beloved person.

Meaning drawn from: Direct Scripture definition · KJV context and cross-references

DEFINED WORDS

Proverbs 5:20

COMBINED MEANING

wilt

↗

Sense 1: Second-person singular present form of will: choosest, intendest, or art disposed to. Sense 2: As an auxiliary, marks future action.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

thou

↗

The singular second-person subject pronoun, meaning you when directly addressing one person, being, or individually treated addressee.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

son

↗

1. A male child or descendant. 2. One belonging to, related to, or characterized by the person, people, place, condition, or quality named.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

ravished

↗

Carried away or overcome by love or delight; in contexts of violence, sexually violated by force.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

strange

↗

Foreign; belonging to another country. Wonderful; causing surprise; exciting curiosity.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

FOLLOW THE THEME

Related Concepts

Choose a connected KJV word or phrase to find where it appears in scripture.

READ THE PASSAGE

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Suggested context · Proverbs 5:3–21

The selected passage is highlighted. Context is a study aid.

5:3¶ For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

5:4But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.

5:5Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

5:6Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

5:7Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

5:8Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

5:9Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

5:10Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

5:11And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

5:12And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

Selected passage

5:13And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

Selected passage

5:14I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

Selected passage

5:15¶ Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

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5:16Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

Selected passage

5:17Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee.

Selected passage

5:18Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

Selected passage

5:19Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

Selected passage

5:20And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

Selected passage

5:21For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.

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