| 1 | My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding: |
| 2 | that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge. |
| 3 | For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil, |
| 4 | But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword. |
| 5 | Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol . |
| 6 | She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it. |
| 7 | Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don't depart from the words of my mouth. |
| 8 | Remove your way far from her. Don't come near the door of her house, |
| 9 | lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one; |
| 10 | lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man's house. |
| 11 | You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed, |
| 12 | and say, "How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; |
| 13 | neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me! |
| 14 | I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly." |
| 15 | Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well. |
| 16 | Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares? |
| 17 | Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you. |
| 18 | Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. |
| 19 | A loving doe and a graceful deer-- let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love. |
| 20 | For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another? |
| 21 | For the ways of man are before the eyes of Yahweh. He examines all his paths. |
| 22 | The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly. |
| 23 | He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray. |
