| | 1 | My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight, | |
| | 2 | that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge. | |
| | 3 | For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; | |
| | 4 | but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. | |
| | 5 | Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. | |
| | 6 | She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths are crooked, but she knows it not. | |
| | 7 | Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say. | |
| | 8 | Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house, | |
| | 9 | lest you give your best strength to others and your years to one who is cruel, | |
| | 10 | lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich another man's house. | |
| | 11 | At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent. | |
| | 12 | You will say, "How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! | |
| | 13 | I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors. | |
| | 14 | I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly." | |
| | 15 | Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. | |
| | 16 | Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? | |
| | 17 | Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. | |
| | 18 | May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. | |
| | 19 | A loving doe, a graceful deer--may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love. | |
| | 20 | Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man's wife? | |
| | 21 | For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths. | |
| | 22 | The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. | |
| | 23 | He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly. | |
