Proverbs, 5

¹ My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Listen carefully^*1 to my discernment,

² So that you may guard your thinking abilities And safeguard knowledge with your lips.

³ For the lips of a wayward^*1 woman drip like a honeycomb, And 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 descend into death. Her steps lead straight to the Grave.^*1

⁶ She gives no thought to the path of life. Her course wanders, but she does not know where.

⁷ Now, my sons, listen to me And do not turn away from what I am saying.

⁸ Stay far away from her; Do not go near the entrance of her house,

⁹ So that you may not give your dignity to others Nor reap years of what is cruel;

¹⁰ So that strangers may not drain your resources^*1 And what you labored for go to the house of a foreigner.

¹¹ Otherwise, you will groan at the end of your life When your flesh and body waste away

¹² And you say: “How I hated discipline! How my heart despised reproof!

¹³ I did not listen to the voice of my instructors Or pay attention to my teachers.

¹⁴ I have come to the brink of complete ruin In the midst of the entire congregation.”^*1

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern And flowing^*1 water from your own well.

¹⁶ Should your springs be dispersed outside, Your streams of water in the public squares?

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

¹⁸ May your own fountain^*1 be blessed, And may you rejoice with the wife of your youth,

¹⁹ A loving doe, a graceful mountain goat.^*1 Let her breasts satisfy^*2 you at all times. May you be captivated by her love constantly.

²⁰ So why, my son, should you be captivated by a wayward^*1 woman Or embrace the bosom of an immoral^*2 woman?

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

²² The wicked one is ensnared by his own errors, And he will be caught in the ropes of his own sin.

²³ He will die for lack of discipline And go astray because of his excessive foolishness.