[1] My son, pay attention to my wisdom, Incline your ear to my understanding, [2] So that you may maintain discretion And your lips may comply with knowledge. [3] For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, And her speech is smoother than oil; [4] But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. [5] Her feet go down to death, Her steps take hold of Sheol. [6] She does not ponder the path of life; Her ways are unstable, she does not know it. [7] Now then, 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] Otherwise you will give your vigor to others, And your years to the cruel one; [10] And strangers will be filled with your strength, And your hard-earned possessions will go to the house of a foreigner; [11] And you will groan in the end, When your flesh and your body are consumed; [12] And you say, “How I hated instruction! And my heart disdainfully rejected rebuke! [13] “I did not listen to the voice of my teachers, Nor incline my ear to my instructors! [14] “I was almost in total 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 overflow into the street, Streams of water in the public squares? [17] Let them be yours alone, And not for strangers with you. [18] Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth. [19] Like a loving doe and a graceful mountain goat, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love. [20] For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress, And embrace the breasts of a foreigner? [21] For the ways of everyone are before the eyes of the Lord, And He observes all his paths. [22] His own wrongdoings will trap the wicked, And he will be held by the ropes of his sin. [23] He will die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his foolishness he will go astray.
