Proverbs 5

¹ My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding,

² that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.

³ For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. 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 go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.¹

⁶ She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it.

⁷ Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸ Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house,

⁹ lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;

¹⁰ lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man’s house.

¹¹ You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,

¹² and say, “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof.

¹³ I haven’t obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!

¹⁴ I have come to the brink of utter ruin, among the gathered assembly.”

¹⁵ Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.

¹⁶ Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?

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

¹⁸ Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.

¹⁹ A loving doe and a graceful deer— let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.

²⁰ For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?

²¹ For the ways of man are before Yahweh’s eyes. He examines all his paths.

²² The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.

²³ He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.