¹⁶ Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,^(A)
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
¹⁷ who has left the partner of her youth
    and ignored the covenant she made before God.^[a](B)
18 Surely her house leads down to death
    and her paths to the spirits of the dead.^(C)
19 None who go to her return
    or attain the paths of life.^(D)

⁷ Now then, my sons, listen^(E) to me;
    do not turn aside from what I say.
⁸ Keep to a path far from her,^(F)
    do not go near the door of her house,
⁹ lest you lose your honor to others
    and your dignity^[a] to one who is cruel,

⁷ Now then, my sons, listen^(A) to me;
    do not turn aside from what I say.

²⁰ Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
    Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

²¹ For your ways are in full view^(A) of the Lord,
    and he examines^(B) all your paths.^(C)
22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;^(D)
    the cords of their sins hold them fast.^(E)
23 For lack of discipline they will die,^(F)
    led astray by their own great folly.^(G)

²⁵ Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
    or let her captivate you with her eyes.

²⁶ For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
    but another man’s wife preys on your very life.^(D)
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap
    without his clothes being burned?
²⁸ Can a man walk on hot coals
    without his feet being scorched?
²⁹ So is he who sleeps^(E) with another man’s wife;^(F)
    no one who touches her will go unpunished.