[1] My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Listen to my words of understanding. [2] Be careful to use good sense. Watch what you say. [3] The words of another man's wife may seem sweet as honey. Her words may be as pleasant as olive oil. [4] But in the end she will bring you sorrow. She will cause you pain like a two-edged sword. [5] She is on the way to death. Her steps are headed straight to the grave. [6] She gives no thought to life. She does not know that her ways are wrong. [7] Now, my sons, listen to me. Don't ignore what I say. [8] Stay away from such a woman. Don't even go near the door of her house. [9] If you do, you will give your riches to others. And the best years of your life will be given to someone who is cruel. [10] Strangers will enjoy your wealth. And what you worked so hard for will go to someone else. [11] You will groan at the end of your life. Then your health will be gone. [12] Then you will say, "I hated self-control! I would not listen when I was corrected! [13] I would not listen to my teachers. I paid no attention to what they taught me. [14] I have come very close to being completely ruined in front of a whole group of people." [15] Be faithful to your own wife. She is like your own well of water from which you drink. [16] You wouldn't drink from streams flowing in the city streets or squares. So be satisfied with your wife, not those outside your home. [17] These things are yours alone. Don't share them with strangers. [18] Be happy with the wife you married when you were young. She gives you joys as your fountain gives you water. [19] She is as lovely and graceful as a deer. Let her love always make you happy. Let her love always hold you captive. [20] My son, don't be held captive by a woman who takes part in adultery. Don't hold another man's wife. [21] The Lord sees everything you do. He watches where you go. [22] An evil man will be caught in his evil ways. He will be tied up by his sins as if they were ropes. [23] He will die because he does not control himself. He will be held captive by his own foolishness.
