1 M y son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding,

2 T hat you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge.

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

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

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

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

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

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

9 L est you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one;

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

11 A nd you mourn at last, When your flesh and your body are consumed,

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

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

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

15 D rink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well.

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

17 L et them be only your own, And not for strangers with you.

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

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

20 F or 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 ponders all his paths.

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

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