1 M y son, give attention to my wisdom, Incline your ear to my understanding;

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

2 T hat you may observe discretion And your lips may reserve knowledge.

that thou may keep council and that thy lips may conserve knowledge.

3 F or the lips of an adulteress drip honey And smoother than oil is her speech;

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

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

But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.

5 H er feet go down to death, Her steps take hold of Sheol.

Her feet go down to death, her steps uphold Sheol,

6 S he does not ponder the path of life; Her ways are unstable, she does not know it.

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

7 N ow then, my sons, listen to me And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

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

8 K eep your way far from her And do not go near the door of her house,

Remove thy way far from her, and do not come near the door of her house,

9 O r you will give your vigor to others And your years to the cruel one;

lest thou give thine honour unto others and thy years unto the cruel,

10 A nd strangers will be filled with your strength And your hard-earned goods will go to the house of an alien;

lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, and thy labours be in the house of a stranger,

11 A nd you groan at your final end, When your flesh and your body are consumed;

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

12 A nd you say, “How I have hated instruction! And my heart spurned reproof!

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

13 “ I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to my instructors!

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

14 “ I was almost in utter ruin In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

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

15 D rink water from your own cistern And fresh water from your own well.

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

16 S hould your springs be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets?

Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of thy waters in the streets.

17 L et them be yours alone And not for strangers with you.

Let them be only thine own and not for strangers with thee.

18 L et your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth.

Thy fountain shall be blessed; and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

19 A s a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love.

Let 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.

20 F or why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

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

21 F or the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He watches all his paths.

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

22 H is own iniquities will capture the wicked, And he will be held with the cords of his sin.

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

23 H e will die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.

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