1 M y son, attend unto my wisdom, incline thine ear to my understanding;

2 t hat thou mayest keep reflection, and that thy lips may preserve knowledge.

3 F or the lips of the strange woman drop honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil;

4 b ut her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

5 H er feet go down to death; her steps take hold on Sheol.

6 L est she should ponder the path of life, her ways wander, she knoweth not.

7 A nd now, children, hearken unto me, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

8 R emove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

9 l est thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel;

10 l est strangers be filled with thy wealth, and the fruits of thy toil into the house of a stranger;

11 a nd thou mourn in thine end, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed;

12 a nd thou say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof!

13 a nd I have not hearkened unto the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to those that instructed me;

14 I was well nigh in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

15 D rink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

16 T hy fountains shall be poured forth, as water-brooks in the broadways.

17 L et them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.

18 L et thy fountain be blessed; and have joy of the wife of thy youth.

19 A s a lovely hind and a graceful roe, let her breasts satisfy thee at all times: be thou ravished continually with her love.

20 A nd why shouldest thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

21 F or the ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah, and he pondereth all his paths.

22 H is own iniquities shall take the wicked, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.

23 H e shall die for want of discipline; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.