1My son, listen to my wisdom; Incline your ear to my understanding,

2So as to watch over discretion, And your lips guard knowledge.

3For the lips of a strange woman drip honey, And her mouth is 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 lay hold of the grave.

6She does not consider the path of life; Her ways are unstable – you do not know it.

7So now, listen to me, you children, And do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

8Keep your way far from her, And do not come near the door of her house,

9Lest you give your splendour to others, And your years to one who is cruel;

10Lest strangers be filled with your strength, And your labours go to the house of a foreigner.

11Then you shall howl in your latter end, When your flesh and your body are consumed,

12And shall say, “How I have hated discipline, And my heart has despised reproof!

13“And I have not heeded the voice of my teachers, And I have not inclined my ear to those who instructed me!

14“In a little while I was in all evil, In the midst of an assembly and a congregation.”

15Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well.

16Should your springs be scattered abroad, Rivers of water in the streets?

17And not for strangers with you.

18Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth –

19A loving deer and a pleasant doe! Let her breasts satisfy you at all times. And be captivated by her love always.

20For why should you, my son, Be captivated by a strange woman, And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

21For the ways of man Are before the eyes of יהוה, And He considers all his paths.

22The wrong one is entrapped In his own crookednesses, And he is caught in the cords of his sin.

23He dies for lack of discipline, And in the greatness of his folly He goes astray.