1 M y son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:

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

2 t hat you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.

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

3 F or the lips of an adulteress drip honey. 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 in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as 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 lead straight to Sheol.

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

6 S he gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it.

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

7 N ow therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart 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 your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house,

Remove 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;

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

10 l est strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man’s house.

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

11 Y ou will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,

And 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 reproof;

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

13 n either have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!

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

14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin, among the gathered assembly.”

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

15 D rink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.

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

16 S hould your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?

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

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

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

18 L et your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.

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

19 A loving doe and a graceful deer— let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated 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 F or why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?

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 Yahweh’s eyes. He examines all his paths.

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

22 T he evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.

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

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

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