[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.