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.⋮

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.⋮