Proverbs 5

¹My son, give attention to my wisdom; let your ear be turned to my teaching:

²So that you may be ruled by a wise purpose, and your lips may keep knowledge.

³For honey is dropping from the lips of the strange woman, and her mouth is smoother than oil;

⁴But her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edged sword;

⁵Her feet go down to death, and her steps to the underworld;

⁶She never keeps her mind on the road of life; her ways are uncertain, she has no knowledge.

⁷Give ear to me then, my sons, and do not put away my words from you.

⁸Go far away from her, do not come near the door of her house;

⁹For fear that you may give your honour to others, and your wealth to strange men:

¹⁰And strange men may be full of your wealth, and the fruit of your work go to the house of others;

¹¹And you will be full of grief at the end of your life, when your flesh and your body are wasted;

¹²And you will say, How was teaching hated by me, and my heart put no value on training;

¹³I did not give attention to the voice of my teachers, my ear was not turned to those who were guiding me!

¹⁴I was in almost all evil in the company of the people.

¹⁵Let water from your store and not that of others be your drink, and running water from your fountain.

¹⁶Let not your springs be flowing in the streets, or your streams of water in the open places.

¹⁷Let them be for yourself only, not for other men with you.

¹⁸Let blessing be on your fountain; have joy in the wife of your early years.

¹⁹As a loving hind and a gentle doe, let her breasts ever give you rapture; let your passion at all times be moved by her love.

²⁰Why let yourself, my son, go out of the way with a strange woman, and take another woman in your arms?

²¹For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he puts all his goings in the scales.

²²The evil-doer will be taken in the net of his crimes, and prisoned in the cords of his sin.

²³He will come to his end for need of teaching; he is so foolish that he will go wandering from the right way.

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

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

³For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,

⁴But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.

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

⁷Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Do not depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸Remove your way far from her. Do not come near the door of her house,

⁹lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;

¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man's house.

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

¹²and say, "How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

¹³neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!

¹⁴I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly."

¹⁵Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.

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

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

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

¹⁹A loving doe and a graceful deer- let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.

²⁰For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?

²¹For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord. He examines all his paths.

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

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