1 M y son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding,

2 T hat thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge.

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

For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;

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

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

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

Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell.

6 L est thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do not know them.

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

Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

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

Remove your way far from her, And do not go 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 the cruel one;

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

Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;

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

And you mourn at last, When your flesh and your body are consumed,

12 A nd say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

And say: “How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction!

13 A nd have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!

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

I was on the verge of total ruin, In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

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

Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well.

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

Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets?

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

Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you.

18 L et thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with 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.

As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love.

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

For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?

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

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He ponders all his paths.

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

His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin.

23 H e shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

He shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.