Proverbs 5:3-14

English Standard Version

³For the lips of ^(A)a forbidden^[a] woman drip honey,
    and her speech^[b] is ^(B)smoother than oil,
⁴but in the end she is ^(C)bitter as ^(D)wormwood,
    ^(E)sharp as ^(F)a two-edged sword.
⁵Her feet ^(G)go down to death;
    her steps follow the path to^[c] Sheol;
⁶she ^(H)does not ponder the path of life;
    her ways wander, and she does not know it.

⁷And ^(I)now, O sons, listen to me,
    and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
⁸Keep your way far from her,
    and do not go near the door of her house,
⁹lest you give your honor to others
    and your years to the merciless,
¹⁰lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
    and your ^(J)labors go to the house of a foreigner,
¹¹and at the end of your life you ^(K)groan,
    when your flesh and body are consumed,
¹²and you say, ^(L)“How I hated discipline,
    and my heart ^(M)despised reproof!
¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
    or incline my ear to my instructors.
¹⁴^(N)I am at the brink of utter ruin
    in the assembled congregation.”