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

My son, attend unto my wisdom, incline thine ear to my understanding;

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

that thou mayest keep reflection, and that thy lips may preserve knowledge.

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

For the lips of the strange woman drop 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.

but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

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

Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on Sheol.

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

Lest she should ponder the path of life, her ways wander, she knoweth not.

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

And now, children, hearken unto me, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

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

Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

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

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

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

lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, and the fruits of thy toil into the house of a stranger;

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

and thou mourn in thine end, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed;

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

and thou say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof!

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

and I have not hearkened unto the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to those that instructed me;

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

I was well nigh in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

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

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

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

Thy fountains shall be poured forth, as water-brooks in the broadways.

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

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

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

Let thy fountain be blessed; and have joy of the wife of thy 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.

As a lovely hind and a graceful roe, let her breasts satisfy thee at all times: be thou ravished continually 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?

And why shouldest thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

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

For the ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah, and he pondereth all his paths.

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

His own iniquities shall take the wicked, and he shall be holden with 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.

He shall die for want of discipline; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.