1 My son, attend to my wisdom. And bow thine ear to my understanding;
2 That thou mayest keep discretion, And that thy lips may preserve knowledge!
3 Truly, the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;
4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death; Her steps lay hold of the under-world.
6 That she may not ponder the way of life, Her paths waver when she heedeth it not.
7 Hear me now, therefore, O children! And turn not away from the words of my mouth!
8 Remove thy way far from her. And come not nigh the door of her house:
9 Lest thou give thy bloom to others, And thy years to a cruel one;
10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, And thine earnings be in the house of an alien;
11 And lest thou mourn in thy latter end. When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 And say, "How have I hated instruction! And how hath my heart despised reproof!
13 I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to my instructors;
14 I have well-nigh fallen into utter misery; In the midst of the congregation and the assembly."
15 Drink water out of thine own cistern. And running water out of thine own well:
16 So shall thy fountains overflow in the streets, In the wide streets, as streams of water;
17 They shall belong to thee alone, And not to strangers with thee;
18 And thy fountain shall be blessed, Yea, thou shalt have joy in the wife of thy youth.
19 A lovely hind, a graceful doe, Her breasts shall satisfy thee at all times, And thou shalt be always ravished with her love.
20 Why, then, my son, wilt thou be ravished with a wanton, And embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And he weigheth well all his paths.
22 His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked; Yea, he shall be held fast by the cords of his own sins.
23 He shall die for want of instruction; Yea, through the greatness of his folly he shall stagger.