[1] My son, pay attention to my wisdom, Incline your ear to my discernment; [2] That you may keep discretion And that your lips may guard knowledge. [3] For the lips of a strange woman drip honey And smoother than oil is her speech; [4] But her end is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. [5] Her feet go down to death, Her steps take hold of Sheol, [6] Lest she watch the path of life; Her tracks are unstable, she does not know it. [7] So now, my sons, listen to me And do not turn away from the words of my mouth. [8] Keep your way far from her And do not go near the door of her house, [9] Lest you give your splendor to others And your years to the cruel one; [10] Lest strangers be satisfied by your strength And by your painful labor, those in the house of a foreigner; [11] And you groan at your end, When your flesh and your body are consumed; [12] And you say, “How I have hated discipline! And my heart spurned reproof! [13] “I have not listened to the voice of my instructors, And I have not inclined my ear to my teachers! [14] “I was almost in utter ruin In the midst of the assembly and congregation.” [15] Drink water from your own cistern And fresh water from your own well. [16] Should your springs be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets? [17] Let them be for you alone, And not for strangers with you. [18] Let your fountain be blessed, And be glad in the wife of your youth. [19] As a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be intoxicated always with her love. [20] So why should you, my son, be intoxicated with a strange woman And embrace the bosom of a foreign woman? [21] For the ways of a man are before the eyes of Yahweh, And He watches all his tracks. [22] His own iniquities will capture him who is the wicked one, And with the cords of his sin he will be held fast. [23] He will die for lack of discipline, And in the abundance of his folly he will stumble in intoxication.
