³ because the lips of an immoral woman drip with honey,
and her words are^[a] as smooth as olive oil,
⁴ but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood^[b]
and as sharp as a double-edged sword.
⁵ Her feet go down to death.
Her steps lead to hell.^[c]
6 She gives no thought to the path of life.^[d]
Her ways wander, but she doesn’t realize it.
⁷ Now, you sons, listen to me.
Do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
⁸ Keep your way far from her.
Do not go near the doorway of her house.
⁹ If you do, you will give your wealth to others
and your years to a cruel person.
¹⁰ If you do, your work will satisfy strangers,
and the results of your labor will end up in another man’s house.
¹¹ You will groan when your end comes,
when your body and flesh are consumed.
¹² Then you will say, “Oh, how I hated discipline,
and my heart despised warnings!
¹³ I did not listen to my teachers’ voices,
and I did not open my ears to hear my instructors.
¹⁴ I soon^[e] reached total ruin
in the midst of the assembly of the community.”

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern.
Drink running water from your own well.
¹⁶ Why should the water from your springs flow out into the street,
your streams of water into the public squares?
¹⁷ They should be yours, yours alone.
They are not for strangers to share with you.
¹⁸ Let your fountain be blessed.
Obtain your joy from the wife you married in your youth,
¹⁹     who is a loving doe and a graceful deer.
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times.
Always be intoxicated with her love.
²⁰ Why should you be led astray, my son, by an immoral woman?
Why embrace a woman who is not your wife?
²¹ For the ways of a man are in front of the eyes of the Lord,
and he weighs all of his paths.
²² The evil deeds of the wicked man will capture him,
and he will be bound by the ropes of his sin.
²³ He will die for lack of discipline,
and he will go astray because of his great stupidity.

²⁰ My son, keep your father’s commands,
and do not forsake your mother’s teachings.
²¹ Fasten them permanently to your heart,
and tie them around your neck.
²² When you walk around, they will lead you.
When you lie down, they will stand guard over you.
When you wake up, they will converse with you,
²³ because a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,
and the warnings given by discipline are a road to life.
²⁴ They guard you from an evil woman,
from the smooth tongue of a woman who is not your wife.
²⁵ Do not desire her beauty in your heart.
Do not let her captivate you with her eyes.
²⁶ A prostitute costs you a loaf of bread,
but a married woman stalks your precious life.
²⁷ Can a man place fire on his lap
    without burning his clothes?
²⁸ Can a man walk on hot coals
    without scorching his feet?
²⁹ So it is with the man who goes to his neighbor’s wife.
No one who touches her will be forgiven.
³⁰ No one despises a thief when he steals
    to satisfy his hunger when he is starving,
³¹ but when he is caught, he will have to repay seven times as much.
He will have to give up all the wealth of his house.
³² Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks sense.
He who does it destroys himself.
³³ He will find disease and dishonor,
and his disgrace will never be wiped out,
³⁴ because jealousy ignites a husband’s anger,
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
³⁵ He will not accept any amount as a payment.
He will not relent, even if you increase your offer.

⁴ Say to Wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call Understanding your relative.^[a]
5 She will keep you safe from an immoral woman,
from an unfaithful woman and her seductive words.

⁶ At a window of my house, I looked out through the lattice.
⁷ I was watching the gullible^[b] people.
Among the young men I noticed a youth without sense.
⁸ He was crossing the street near her corner,
strolling along the road to her house,
⁹ in the twilight, in the evening of the day,
when the darkness of the night was coming.^[c]
10 Suddenly a woman meets him.
She is dressed like a prostitute with a scheming heart!
¹¹ She is loud and rebellious.
Her feet will not stay home.
¹² One moment she is in the street.
The next moment she is in the public square.
She is on the prowl near every corner.
¹³ She grabs him and kisses him.
With a brazen face she says,
¹⁴ “I have food from fellowship offerings.
Today I fulfilled my vows.
¹⁵ That is why I came out to meet you.
I came eagerly to seek you,
and now I have found you!
¹⁶ I have covered my couch with a bedspread,
with colored cloth made of Egyptian yarn.
¹⁷ I have perfumed my bed
    with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
¹⁸ Come, let’s drink our fill of love^[d] until morning.
Let’s enjoy making love.
¹⁹ Look, my husband isn’t home.
He has gone on a long trip.
²⁰ He took a bag of silver with him.
He will not come home till the next full moon.”
²¹ She deceives him with enticing words.
With smooth lips she seduces him.
²² He follows right after her,
like a steer going to slaughter,
like a deer prancing into a noose,^[e]
23     until an arrow pierces its liver,
like a bird darting into a trap.
He does not realize this will cost him his life.
²⁴ Now, you sons, listen to me.
Pay attention to the words from my mouth.
²⁵ Do not let your heart turn in her direction.
Do not wander on her pathways,
²⁶ because she has brought down many victims.
Those she has killed are countless.
²⁷ Her house is on the road to the grave.^[f]
It goes down to the chambers of death.

¹⁴ The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit.
The man who is under the Lord’s wrath will fall there.

³ Do not give your strength to women.
Do not give your ways to those who destroy kings.