[1] My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Bend your ear to what I know, [2] so you might remain discreet, and your lips might guard knowledge. [3] The lips of a mysterious woman drip honey, and her tongue is smoother than oil, [4] but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. [5] Her feet go down to death; her steps lead to the grave. [6] She doesn’t stay on the way of life. Her paths wander, but she doesn’t know it. [7] Now sons, listen to me, and don’t deviate from the words of my mouth. [8] Stay on a path that is far from her; don’t approach the entrance to her house. [9] Otherwise, you will give your strength to others, your years to a cruel person. [10] Otherwise, strangers will sap your strength, and your hard work will end up in a foreigner’s house. [11] You will groan at the end when your body and flesh are exhausted, [12] and you say, “How I hated instruction! How my heart despised correction! [13] I didn’t listen to the voice of my instructor. I didn’t obey my teacher. [14] I’m on the brink of utter ruin in the assembled community.” [15] Drink water from your own cistern, gushing water from your own well. [16] Should your fountains flood outside, streams of water in the public squares? [17] They are yours alone, not for you as well as strangers. [18] May your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. [19] She is a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts intoxicate you all the time; always be drunk on her love. [20] Why, my son, should you lose your senses with a mysterious woman and embrace the breasts of a foreign female? [21] The LORD’s eyes watch over every person’s path, observing all their ways. [22] The wicked will be caught by their own evil acts, grabbed by the ropes of their own sin. [23] Those without instruction will die, misled by their own stupidity.
