Proverbs 5:1-14 ▼

1 My son, attend unto my wisdom; Incline thine ear to my understanding;

2 That thou mayest preserve discretion, And that thy lips may keep knowledge.

3 For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;

4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold on the nether-world;

6 Lest she should walk the even path of life, Her ways wander, but she knoweth it not.

7 Now therefore, O ye children, hearken unto me, And depart not from the words of my mouth.

8 Remove thy way far from her, And come not nigh the door of her house;

9 Lest thou give thy vigour unto others, And thy years unto the cruel;

10 Lest strangers be filled with thy strength, And thy labours be in the house of an alien;

11 And thou moan, when thine end cometh, When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

12 And say: 'How have I hated instruction, And my heart despised reproof;

13 Neither have I hearkened to the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

14 I was well nigh in all evil In the midst of the congregation and assembly.'