Unlike the Protestant and Catholic canons, the Ethiopian tradition (Orthodox Tewahedo Church) includes in its Old Testament a collection of wisdom writings known as 'Messalë' (መሣሌ), which corresponds to the Book of Proverbs, but with a particular order and extent. In the Ethiopian canon, Messalë is often positioned distinctly, appearing alongside other wisdom books such as Säyfon (Ecclesiasticus) and Tägsas (Wisdom of Solomon). Although the central content corresponds to the canonical Proverbs, the Ethiopian manuscript tradition preserves textual variations and a chapter organization that reflects the ancient tradition of the Church of Ethiopia. In this Ethiopian collection, Messalë corresponds specifically to chapters 1–24 of the Book of Proverbs, while chapters 25–31 are known as Tägsas.
Messalë (Provérbios 1–24)
Chapter 5 — Warning Against Adultery
My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:
that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.
For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,
but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.
She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it.
Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth.
Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house,
lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;
lest strangers be filled with your wealth, and your labors go to an alien’s house.
You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
and say, “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!
I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly.”
Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.
Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.
Let your fountain be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
A loving doe and a graceful deer— let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.
For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?
For the ways of man are before Yahweh’s eyes. He examines all his paths.
The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.