¹ My son, give attention to my wisdom,
Incline your ear to my understanding; ² That you may observe discretion
And your lips may reserve knowledge. ³ For the lips of an adulteress drip honey
And smoother than oil is her speech; 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 depart from the words of my mouth. ⁸ Keep your way far from her
And do not go near the door of her house, ⁹ Or 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 goods will go to the house of an alien; ¹¹ And you groan at your final end,
When your flesh and your body are consumed; ¹² And you say, “How I have hated instruction!
And my heart spurned reproof! ¹³ “I have not listened to the voice of my teachers,
Nor inclined my ear to my instructors! 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 yours alone
And not for strangers with you. ¹⁸ Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice in the wife of your youth. ¹⁹ As a loving hind and a graceful doe,
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 bosom of a foreigner? ²¹ For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD,
And He watches all his paths. ²² His own iniquities will capture the wicked,
And he will be held with the cords of his sin. ²³ He will die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.