Proverbs 5

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.