3 For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,

and her speech is smoother than oil;

4 but in the end she is bitter as gall,

sharp as a double-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death;

her steps lead straight to the grave.

6 She gives no thought to the way of life;

her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.

7 Now then, my sons, listen to me;

do not turn aside from what I say.

8 Keep to a path far from her,

do not go near the door of her house,

9 lest you lose your honor to others

and your dignity to one who is cruel,

10 lest strangers feast on your wealth

and your toil enrich the house of another.

11 At the end of your life you will groan,

when your flesh and body are spent.

12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!

How my heart spurned correction!

13 I would not obey my teachers

or turn my ear to my instructors.

14 And I was soon in serious trouble

in the assembly of God’s people.”

3 For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,

and her speech is smoother than oil,

4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

sharp as a two-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death;

her steps follow the path to Sheol;

6 she does not ponder the path of life;

her ways wander, and she does not know it.

7 And now, O sons, listen to me,

and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

8 Keep your way far from her,

and do not go near the door of her house,

9 lest you give your honor to others

and your years to the merciless,

10 lest strangers take their fill of your strength,

and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,

11 and at the end of your life you groan,

when your flesh and body are consumed,

12 and you say, “How I hated discipline,

and my heart despised reproof!

13 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers

or incline my ear to my instructors.

14 I am at the brink of utter ruin

in the assembled congregation.”

3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb,

And her mouth is smoother than oil:

4 But her end is bitter as wormwood,

Sharp as a twoedged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death;

Her steps take hold on hell.

6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life,

Her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children,

And depart not from the words of my mouth.

8 Remove thy way far from her,

And come not nigh the door of her house:

9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others,

And thy years unto the cruel:

10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth;

And thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

11 And thou mourn at the last,

When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

12 And say, How have I hated instruction,

And my heart despised reproof;

13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,

Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

14 I was almost in all evil

In the midst of the congregation and assembly.

3 For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey,

and her mouth is smoother than oil.

4 But in the end she is as bitter as poison,

as dangerous as a double-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death;

her steps lead straight to the grave.

6 For she cares nothing about the path to life.

She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it.

7 So now, my sons, listen to me.

Never stray from what I am about to say:

8 Stay away from her!

Don’t go near the door of her house!

9 If you do, you will lose your honor

and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved.

10 Strangers will consume your wealth,

and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor.

11 In the end you will groan in anguish

when disease consumes your body.

12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!

If only I had not ignored all the warnings!

13 Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers?

Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors?

14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin,

and now I must face public disgrace.”

3 For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey,

And her mouth is smoother than oil;

4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

Sharp as a two-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death,

Her steps lay hold of hell.

6 Lest you ponder her path of life—

Her ways are unstable;

You do not know them.

7 Therefore hear me now, my children,

And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

8 Remove your way far from her,

And do not go near the door of her house,

9 Lest you give your honor to others,

And your years to the cruel one;

10 Lest aliens be filled with your wealth,

And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;

11 And you mourn at last,

When your flesh and your body are consumed,

12 And say:

“How I have hated instruction,

And my heart despised correction!

13 I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,

Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!

14 I was on the verge of total ruin,

In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

3 The words of another man’s wife may seem sweet as honey;

they may be as smooth as olive oil.

4 But in the end she will bring you sorrow,

causing you pain like a two-edged sword.

5 She is on the way to death;

her steps are headed straight to the grave.

6 She gives little thought to life.

She doesn’t even know that her ways are wrong.

7 Now, my sons, listen to me,

and don’t ignore what I say.

8 Stay away from such a woman.

Don’t even go near the door of her house,

9 or you will give your riches to others,

and the best years of your life will be given to someone cruel.

10 Strangers will enjoy your wealth,

and what you worked so hard for will go to someone else.

11 You will groan at the end of your life

when your health is gone.

12 Then you will say, “I hated being told what to do!

I would not listen to correction!

13 I would not listen to my teachers

or pay attention to my instructors.

14 I came close to being completely ruined

in front of a whole group of people.”

3 For the lips of a strange woman drop honey,

And her mouth is smoother than oil:

4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

Sharp as a two-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death;

Her steps take hold on Sheol;

6 So that she findeth not the level path of life:

Her ways are unstable, and she knoweth it not.

7 Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me,

And depart not from the words of my mouth.

8 Remove thy way far from her,

And come not nigh the door of her house;

9 Lest thou give thine honor unto others,

And thy years unto the cruel;

10 Lest strangers be filled with thy strength,

And thy labors be in the house of an alien,

11 And thou mourn at thy latter end,

When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

12 And say, How have I hated instruction,

And my heart despised reproof;

13 Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers,

Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

14 I was well-nigh in all evil

In the midst of the assembly and congregation.

3 The lips of an adulterous woman drip with honey. 

Her kiss is smoother than oil, 

4 but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, 

as sharp as a two-edged sword. 

5 Her feet descend to death. 

Her steps lead straight to hell. 

6 She doesn’t even think about the path of life. 

Her steps wander, and she doesn’t realize it. 

7 But now, sons, 

listen to me, 

and do not turn away from what I say to you. 

8 Stay far away from her. 

Do not even go near her door. 

9 Either you will surrender your reputation to others 

and ⸤the rest of⸥ your years to some cruel person, 

10 or strangers will benefit from your strength 

and you will have to work hard in a pagan’s house. 

11 Then you will groan when your end comes, 

when your body and flesh are consumed. 

You will say, 

12 “Oh, how I hated discipline! 

How my heart despised correction! 

13 I didn’t listen to what my teachers said to me, 

nor did I keep my ear open to my instructors. 

14 I almost reached total ruin 

in the assembly and in the congregation.” 

3 Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey

and her words are smoother than oil,

4 in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood

and as sharp as a double-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death;

her steps head straight for Sheol.

6 She doesn’t consider the path of life;

she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.

7 So now, my sons, listen to me,

and don’t turn away from the words of my mouth.

8 Keep your way far from her.

Don’t go near the door of her house.

9 Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others

and your years to someone cruel;

10 strangers will drain your resources,

and your earnings will end up in a foreigner’s house.

11 At the end of your life, you will lament

when your physical body has been consumed,

12 and you will say, “How I hated discipline,

and how my heart despised correction.

13 I didn’t obey my teachers

or listen closely to my mentors.

14 I am on the verge of complete ruin

before the entire community.”

3 For the lips of a loose woman drip honey,

and her speech is smoother than oil;

4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

sharp as a two-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death;

her steps follow the path to Sheol.

6 She does not keep straight to the path of life;

her ways wander, and she does not know it.

7 And now, my child, listen to me,

and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

8 Keep your way far from her,

and do not go near the door of her house;

9 or you will give your honor to others,

and your years to the merciless,

10 and strangers will take their fill of your wealth,

and your labors will go to the house of an alien;

11 and at the end of your life you will groan,

when your flesh and body are consumed,

12 and you say, “Oh, how I hated discipline,

and my heart despised reproof!

13 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers

or incline my ear to my instructors.

14 Now I am at the point of utter ruin

in the public assembly.”

3 For the lips of the strange woman will drip honey,

and smoother than oil is her mouth.

4 But her end is bitter as the wormwood,

sharp as a two-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death;

her steps take hold of Sheol.

6 She does not observe the path of life;

her ways wander, and she does not know it.

7 Now, O children, listen to me;

do not depart from the sayings of my mouth.

8 Keep your paths far from her,

and do not go near to the door of her house,

9 lest you give your honor to the others,

and your years to the merciless,

10 lest strangers take their fill of your strength,

and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,

11 and you groan at your end,

when your flesh and body are consumed,

12 and say “How I hated discipline,

and I despised reproof!”

13 and “I did not listen to the voice of my teachers,

and I did not incline my ear to my instructors!

14 I was almost at utter ruin

in the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

3 A woman who commits adultery has lips that drip honey.

What she says is smoother than oil.

4 But in the end she is like bitter poison.

She cuts like a sword that has two edges.

5 Her feet go down to death.

Her steps lead straight to the grave.

6 She doesn’t give any thought to her way of life.

Her paths are crooked, but she doesn’t realize it.

7 My sons, listen to me.

Don’t turn away from what I say.

8 Stay on a path far away from that evil woman.

Don’t even go near the door of her house.

9 If you do, you will give your best strength to others.

You will give the best years of your life to someone who is mean.

10 Strangers will use up all of your wealth.

Your hard work will make someone else rich.

11 At the end of your life you will groan.

Your skin and your body will be worn out.

12 You will say, “How I hated to take advice!

How my heart refused to be corrected!

13 I would not obey my teachers.

I wouldn’t listen to those who taught me.

14 I was almost totally destroyed.

It happened right in front of the whole community.”

3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey

And smoother than oil is her speech;

4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

Sharp as a two-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death,

Her steps take hold of Sheol.

6 She does not ponder the path of life;

Her ways are unstable, she does not know it.

7 Now then, my sons, listen to me

And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

8 Keep your way far from her

And do not go near the door of her house,

9 Or you will give your vigor to others

And your years to the cruel one;

10 And strangers will be filled with your strength

And your hard-earned goods will go to the house of an alien;

11 And you groan at your final end,

When your flesh and your body are consumed;

12 And you say, “How I have hated instruction!

And my heart spurned reproof!

13 “I have not listened to the voice of my teachers,

Nor inclined my ear to my instructors!

14 “I was almost in utter ruin

In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”