-
5:1 My son, give attention to my wisdom, Incline your ear to my understanding; 5:2 That you may observe discretion And your lips may reserve knowledge. 5:3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey And smoother than oil is her speech; 5:4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. 5:5 Her feet go down to death, Her steps take hold of Sheol. 5:6 She does not ponder the path of life; Her ways are unstable, she does not know it. 5:7 Now then, my sons, listen to me And do not depart from the words of my mouth. 5:8 Keep your way far from her And do not go near the door of her house, 5:9 Or you will give your vigor to others And your years to the cruel one; 5:10 And strangers will be filled with your strength And your hard-earned goods will go to the house of an alien; 5:11 And you groan at your final end, When your flesh and your body are consumed; 5:12 And you say, "How I have hated instruction! And my heart spurned reproof! 5:13 "I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to my instructors! 5:14 "I was almost in utter ruin In the midst of the assembly and congregation." 5:15 Drink water from your own cistern And fresh water from your own well. 5:16 Should your springs be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets? 5:17 Let them be yours alone And not for strangers with you. 5:18 Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth. 5:19 As a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love. 5:20 For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress And embrace the bosom of a foreigner? 5:21 For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He watches all his paths. 5:22 His own iniquities will capture the wicked, And he will be held with the cords of his sin. 5:23 He will die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.