1My son, attend to my wisdom, and tune your ear to hear my counsel, 2That you may maintain discretion, and that your lips may keep knowledge. 3For the lips of an adulterous woman drip honey, and her words are smoother than oil, 4But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. 5Her feet go down to death; her steps lead to hell. 6She never stops to consider where her path of life will take her or others, her ways are unstable, so that you cannot predict her actions. 7So hear me now, my children, and abide by the words of my mouth. 8Stay away from her; do not go near the door of her house: 9Or you will lose your honor to others, and your dignity to one who is cruel; 10Lest strangers squander your wealth; and others enjoy the fruit of your labors; 11And in your last days, you have deep regret, 12And say, “How I have hated discipline, and despised correction! 13And have not obeyed my teachers, nor turned my ear to them that advised me! 14I am at the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the assembled congregation.” 15Drink water out of your own cistern, and running waters out of your own well. 16Should your fountains be scattered abroad, like rivers of water spilled in the streets? 17Let them be yours alone, and not shared with strangers. 18May your fountain be blessed; and may you rejoice with the wife of your youth. 19Let her be as the loving doe and graceful deer; let her breasts satisfy you always, and be ever ravished with her love. 20Why, my son, should you be fascinated by another man’s wife, and embrace the bosom of a wayward woman? 21For men’s ways are ever before the eyes of the LORD, and He ponders all their deeds. 22Their own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked; and they shall be held in the grasp of their sins. 23They shall die for lack of wisdom and restraint; and they shall be lost in the grossness of their folly.