ProverbsChapter 5

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¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom.
Turn your ear to what I understand. ²Then you will keep on thinking carefully.
Your lips will hold on to knowledge. ³The lips of the forbidden woman drip with honey.
Her words are smoother than oil. ⁴But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood.
She is as sharp as a sword with two edges.a ⁵Her feet go down to death.
Her steps lead straight to the grave.b ⁶She doesn't think about the path of life.
She doesn't know that her ways wander and are not steady. ⁷So now, my sons, listen to me.
Don't turn away from the words I speak. ⁸Keep your path far away from her.
Don't go near the door of her house. ⁹If you do, you will give your strength to others.
You will give your years to someone cruel. ¹⁰Then strangers will enjoy your wealth.
Your hard work will make a foreigner's house rich. ¹¹At the end of your life you will groan.
Your flesh and your body will be worn out. ¹²You will say, "How I hated discipline!
My heart hated being corrected! ¹³I did not listen to my teachers.
I did not turn my ear to those who taught me. ¹⁴Now I am close to complete ruin.
And it is in front of the whole community." ¹⁵Drink water from your own well.
Drink fresh water from your own spring.c ¹⁶Why should your springs spill out into the streets?
Why should your streams flow in the public squares? ¹⁷Let them be yours alone.
Never share them with strangers. ¹⁸May your fountain be blessed.
Be glad in the wife you married when you were young. ¹⁹She is a loving deer, a graceful fawn.
May her breasts always satisfy you.
May you always be carried away by her love. ²⁰My son, why be carried away by a woman who cheats on her husband?
Why hug the body of a stranger? ²¹For the LORD sees everything a man does.
The LORD looks closely at all his paths. ²²A wicked man's sins trap him.
The ropes of his sin tie him up. ²³He will die because he would not accept discipline.
His own great foolishness will lead him astray.