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

My son! to my wisdom give attention, To mine understanding incline thine ear,

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

To observe thoughtfulness, And knowledge do thy lips keep.

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 strange woman drop honey, And smoother than oil her mouth,

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

And her latter end bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a sword mouths.

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

Her feet are going down to death, Sheol do her steps take hold of.

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

The path of life -- lest thou ponder, Moved have her paths -- thou knowest not.

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

And now, ye sons, hearken to me, And turn not from sayings of my mouth.

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

Keep far from off her thy way, And come not near unto the opening of her house,

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

Lest thou give to others thy honour, And thy years to the fierce,

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

Lest strangers be filled thy power, And thy labours in the house of a stranger,

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

And thou hast howled in thy latter end, In the consumption of thy flesh and thy food,

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

And hast said, `How have I hated instruction, And reproof hath my heart despised,

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

And I have not hearkened to the voice of my directors, And to my teachers have not inclined mine ear.

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

As a little thing I have been all evil, In the midst of an assembly and a company.

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

Drink waters out of thine own cistern, Even flowing ones out of thine own well.

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

Let thy fountains be scattered abroad, In broad places rivulets of waters.

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

Let them be to thee for thyself, And not to strangers with thee.

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

Let thy fountain be blessed, And rejoice because of the wife of thy 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.

A hind of loves, and a roe of grace! Let her loves satisfy thee at all times, In her love magnify thyself continually.

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

And why dost thou magnify thyself, My son, with a stranger? And embrace the bosom of a strange woman?

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

For over-against the eyes of Jehovah are the ways of each, And all his paths He is pondering.

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 do capture the wicked, And with the ropes of his sin he is holden.

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 dieth without instruction, And in the abundance of his folly magnifieth himself!