1 ¶ My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my intelligence;

My son, be attentive to my Wisdom, and incline your ear to my understanding,

2 t hat thou may keep council and that thy lips may conserve knowledge.

That you may exercise proper discrimination and discretion and your lips may guard and keep knowledge and the wise answer.

3 F or the lips of the strange woman drop as a honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil,

For the lips of a loose woman drip honey as a honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil;

4 B ut her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged and devouring sword.

5 H er feet go down to death, her steps uphold Sheol,

Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold of Sheol (Hades, the place of the dead).

6 l est thou should ponder the path of life, her ways are unstable; thou shalt not know them.

She loses sight of and walks not in the path of life; her ways wind about aimlessly, and you cannot know them.

7 H ear me now therefore, O ye sons, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

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

Let your way in life be far from her, and come not near the door of her house,

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

Lest you give your honor to others and your years to those without mercy,

10 l est strangers be filled with thy wealth, and thy labours be in the house of a stranger,

Lest strangers take their fill of your strength and wealth and your labors go to the house of an alien —

11 a nd thou mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed

And you groan and mourn when your end comes, when your flesh and body are consumed,

12 a nd say, How have I hated chastening and my heart despised reproof

And you say, How I hated instruction and discipline, and my heart despised reproof!

13 a nd have not obeyed the voice of those who chastened me, nor inclined my ear to those that instructed me!

I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers nor submitted and consented to those who instructed me.

14 I have been in almost every kind of evil, in the midst of society and of the congregation.

my sin involved almost all evil of the congregation and the community.

15 ¶ Drink waters out of thine own cistern and running waters out of thine own well.

Drink waters out of your own cistern, and fresh running waters out of your own well.

16 L et thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of thy waters in the streets.

Should your offspring be dispersed abroad as water brooks in the streets?

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

let your children be for you alone, and not the children of strangers with you.

18 T hy fountain shall be blessed; and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth.

19 L et her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love, without eyes for anyone else.

Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant doe —let her bosom satisfy you at all times, and always be transported with delight in her love.

20 A nd why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a woman belonging to someone else, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

Why should you, my son, be infatuated with a loose woman, embrace the bosom of an outsider, and go astray?

21 F or the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he weighs all his goings.

For the ways of man are directly before the eyes of the Lord, and He carefully weighs all man’s goings.

22 H is own iniquities shall take hold of the wicked, and he shall be imprisoned with the cords of his sins.

His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked man, and he shall be held with the cords of his sin.

23 H e shall die because he did not submit to chastening; and due to the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

He will die for lack of discipline and instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he will go astray and be lost.