1My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
incline your ears to my understanding,

2so you may learn about discretion
and your lips may protect knowledge.

3For the lips of an adulteress drip with honey
and her mouth is smoother than oil,

4but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood,
cutting like a sharp sword.

5Her feet go down to death;
her steps go all the way to Sheol.

6She gives no thought to the path of life.
Her footsteps wander; she does not know where she is going.

7Now, my sons, listen to me;
do not turn away from listening to the words of my mouth.

8Keep your path far away from her
and do not come near the door of her house.

9In that way you will not give away your honor to others
or years of your life to a cruel person;

10strangers will not feast on your wealth;
what you have worked for will not go into the house of strangers.

11At the end of your life you will groan
when your flesh and your body waste away.

12You will say, “How I hated instruction
and my heart despised correction!

13I would not obey my teachers
or incline my ear to my instructors.

14I was almost completely ruined
in the midst of the assembly, among the gathering of the people.”

15Drink water from your own cistern
and drink running water from your own well.

16Should your springs overflow everywhere
and your streams of water flow in the public squares?

17Let them be for yourself alone
and not for strangers with you.

18May your fountain be blessed
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth,

19for she is a loving deer and a graceful doe.
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
may you be continually intoxicated by her love.

20For why should you, my son, be captivated by an adulteress;
why should you embrace the breasts of an immoral woman?

21Yahweh sees everything a person does
and watches all the paths he takes.

22A wicked person will be seized by his own iniquities;
the cords of his sin will hold him tight.

23He will die because he lacks instruction;
he is led astray by his great foolishness.