5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
listen closely^[a] to my understanding^(A)
2 so that you may maintain discretion
and your lips safeguard knowledge.^(B)
3 Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey
and her words are^[b] smoother than oil,
⁴ in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood^(C)
and as sharp as a double-edged sword.^(D)
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps head straight for Sheol.^(E)
6 She doesn’t consider the path of life;
she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern,
water flowing from your own well.^(I)
16 Should your springs flow in the streets,
streams of water in the public squares?^(J)
17 They should be for you alone
and not for you to share with strangers.
¹⁸ Let your fountain be blessed,
and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.^(K)
19 A loving doe, a graceful fawn—
let her breasts always satisfy you;^(L)
be lost in her love forever.
²⁰ Why, my son, would you be infatuated
with a forbidden woman
or embrace the breast of a stranger?^(M)
21 For a man’s ways are before the Lord’s eyes,^(N)
and He considers all his paths.^(O)
22 A wicked man’s iniquities entrap him;^(P)
he is entangled in the ropes of his own sin.^(Q)
23 He will die because there is no discipline,^(R)
and be lost because of his great stupidity.

²⁰ My son, keep your father’s command,
and don’t reject your mother’s teaching.^(A)
21 Always bind them to your heart;
tie them around your neck.^(B)
22 When you walk here and there, they will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up, they will talk to you.
²³ For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,^(C)
and corrective discipline is the way to life.^(D)
24 They will protect you from an evil woman,^[a]
from the flattering^[b] tongue of a stranger.^(E)
25 Don’t lust in your heart for her beauty^(F)
or let her captivate you with her eyelashes.^(G)
26 For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread,^[c]
but an adulteress^[d] goes after a precious life.^(H)
27 Can a man embrace fire^[e]
and his clothes not be burned?
²⁸ Can a man walk on burning coals
without scorching his feet?
²⁹ So it is with the one who sleeps with
another man’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.^(I)
30 People don’t despise the thief if he steals
to satisfy himself when he is hungry.^(J)
31 Still, if caught, he must pay seven times as much;^(K)
he must give up all the wealth in his house.
³² The one who commits adultery^[f] lacks sense;
whoever does so destroys himself.^(L)
33 He will get a beating^[g] and dishonor,
and his disgrace will never be removed.
³⁴ For jealousy enrages a husband,^(M)
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
³⁵ He will not be appeased by anything
or be persuaded by lavish gifts.

⁶ At the window of my house
I looked through my lattice.^(G)
7 I saw among the inexperienced,^[a]
I noticed among the youths,
a young man lacking sense.
⁸ Crossing the street near her corner,
he strolled down the road to her house
⁹ at twilight, in the evening,
in the dark of the night.^(H)
10 A woman came to meet him
dressed like a prostitute,^(I)
having a hidden agenda.^[b]
11 She is loud and defiant;^(J)
her feet do not stay at home.^(K)
12 Now in the street, now in the squares,^(L)
she lurks at every corner.^(M)
13 She grabs him and kisses him;
she brazenly says^[c] to him,
¹⁴ “I’ve made fellowship offerings;^[d]
today I’ve fulfilled my vows.^(N)
15 So I came out to meet you,
to search for you, and I’ve found you.
¹⁶ I’ve spread coverings on my bed^(O)—
richly colored linen from Egypt.^(P)
17 I’ve perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.^(Q)
18 Come, let’s drink deeply of lovemaking until morning.^(R)
Let’s feast on each other’s love!
¹⁹ My husband isn’t home;
he went on a long journey.
²⁰ He took a bag of money with him
and will come home at the time of the full moon.”
²¹ She seduces him with her persistent pleading;
she lures with her flattering^[e] talk.
²² He follows her impulsively
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer bounding toward a trap^[f]
23 until an arrow pierces its^[g] liver,^(S)
like a bird darting into a snare^(T)—
he doesn’t know it will cost him his life.