Proverbs

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding, ²that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge. ³For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil, ⁴but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword. ⁵Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol. ⁶She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it. ⁷Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth. ⁸Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house, ⁹lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one; ¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man’s house. ¹¹You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed, ¹²and say, “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof. ¹³I haven’t obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me! ¹⁴I have come to the brink of utter ruin, among the gathered assembly.” ¹⁵Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well. ¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares? ¹⁷Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you. ¹⁸Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. ¹⁹A loving doe and a graceful deer— let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love. ²⁰For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another? ²¹For the ways of man are before the LORD’s eyes. He examines all his paths. ²²The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly. ²³He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.