1 M y son, listen to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding.

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

2 S o you may know what is good thinking, and your lips may keep much learning.

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

3 F or the lips of a strange woman are as sweet as honey. Her talk is as smooth as oil.

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

4 B ut in the end she is as bitter tasting as wormwood, and as sharp as a sword that cuts both ways.

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 of hell.

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

6 S he does not think about the path of life. Her ways go this way and that, and she does not know it.

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

7 N ow then, my sons, listen to me. Do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

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

8 K eep far away from her. Do not go near the door of her house.

Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house,

9 I f you do, you would give your strength to others, and your years to those without loving-kindness.

Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one;

10 S trangers would be filled with your strength, and the fruits of your work would go to a strange house.

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

11 Y ou would cry inside yourself when your end comes, when your flesh and body are wasted away.

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

12 Y ou would say, “How I have hated teaching! My heart hated strong words!

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

13 I have not listened to the voice of my teachers. I have not turned my ear to those who would teach me.

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

14 N ow I have a bad name in the meeting place of the people.”

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

15 D rink water from your own pool, flowing water from your own well.

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

16 S hould the waters from your well flow away, rivers of water in the streets?

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

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

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

18 L et your well be honored, and be happy with the wife you married when you were young.

Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth.

19 L et her be like a loving, female deer. Let her breasts please you at all times. Be filled with great joy always because of 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 M y son, why should you be carried away with a sinful woman and fall into the arms of a strange woman?

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 a man are seen by 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 ponders all his paths.

22 H is own sins will trap the sinful. He will be held with the ropes of his sin.

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

23 H e will die for want of teaching, and will go the wrong way because of the greatness of his foolish ways.

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