^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. [1]

^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.