5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom.
    Turn your ear to my understanding,
² that you may maintain discretion,
    that your lips may preserve knowledge.
³ For the lips of an adulteress drip honey.
    Her mouth is smoother than oil,
⁴ but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood,
    and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
⁵ Her feet go down to death.
    Her steps lead straight to Sheol.^[a]
6 She gives no thought to the way of life.
    Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it.

⁷ Now therefore, my sons, listen to me.
    Don’t depart from the words of my mouth.
⁸ Remove your way far from her.
    Don’t come near the door of her house,
⁹ lest you give your honor to others,
    and your years to the cruel one;
¹⁰ lest strangers feast on your wealth,
    and your labors enrich another man’s house.
¹¹ You will groan at your latter end,
    when your flesh and your body are consumed,
¹² and say, “How I have hated instruction,
    and my heart despised reproof.
¹³ I haven’t obeyed the voice of my teachers,
    nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!
¹⁴ I have come to the brink of utter ruin,
    among the gathered assembly.”

¹⁵ Drink water out of your own cistern,
    running water out of your own well.
¹⁶ Should your springs overflow in the streets,
    streams of water in the public squares?
¹⁷ Let them be for yourself alone,
    not for strangers with you.
¹⁸ Let your spring be blessed.
    Rejoice in 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.
²⁰ For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress?
    Why embrace the bosom of another?
²¹ For the ways of man are before Yahweh’s eyes.
    He examines all his paths.
²² The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him.
    The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
²³ He will die for lack of instruction.
    In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.