Proverbs 5:18

16 Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?

17 Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.

May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:

19 A loving doe, a graceful fawn— may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever.

20 Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger?

Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
KJV
Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
WEB
Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
ASV
Let thy fountain be blessed; And rejoice in the wife of thy youth.
DARBY
Let thy fountain be blessed; and have joy of the wife of thy youth.
BLB
Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth.
ÅB
Din kilde være velsignet, gled deg i din ungdoms hustru!
OTB
Må din kilde til glede bli velsignet, og finn glede i din ungdoms hustru.
B1930
Din kilde være velsignet, gled dig i din ungdoms hustru!

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Ecclesiastes 9:9

    Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.

    Read in context
  • Malachi 2:14–15

    Yet you ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have broken faith, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

    Read in context
  • Song of Solomon 4:15

    You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon.

    Read in context
  • Song of Solomon 4:12

    My sister, my bride, you are a garden locked up, a spring enclosed, a fountain sealed.

    Read in context