aMy son, attend unto my wisdom,

And aabow thine ear to my understanding:

2  That thou mayest regard bdiscretion,

And that thy lips may ckeep knowledge.

3  For the lips of a dstrange woman edrop as an honeycomb,

And her †mouth is fsmoother than oil:

4  But her end is gbitter as hwormwood,

fiSharp as a ktwoedged sword.

5  Her feet lgo down to death;

Her steps take hold on hell.

6  Lest thou shouldest mponder the path of life,

Her nways oare moveable, that pthou canst not know them.

7  qHear 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 rcruel:

10  Lest strangers be filled with †thy wealth;

And thy slabours be in the house of a stranger;

11  And thou tmourn at the last,

When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

12  And say, How have I uhated instruction,

And my heart xdespised reproof;

13  And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,

Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

14  I was yalmost in all evil

In the midst of the congregation and assembly.

15  Drink zwaters out of thine own cistern,

And running waters out of thine own well.

16  Let thy afountains be dispersed abroad,

And rivers of waters bin the streets.

17  Let them be only thine own,

And not strangers’ with thee.

18  Let thy zfountain be blessed:

And crejoice with dthe wife of thy youth.

19  Let her be as the loving ehind and pleasant froe;

Let her gbreasts †hsatisfy thee at all times;

And †be thou ravished always with her love.

20  And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a istrange woman,

And embrace the bosom of a istranger?

21  For jthe ways of man are before kthe eyes of the Lord,

And he lpondereth all his mgoings.

22  nHis own iniquities shall otake the wicked himself,

And he shall be holden with the cords of his †sins.

23  pHe shall die without instruction;

And in the greatness of his folly he shall qgo astray.

6 My son, if thou abe surety for thy friend,

If thou hast astricken thy hand with a stranger,

2  Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth,

Thou art btaken with the words of thy mouth.

3  Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself,

When thou art come into the hand of thy friend;

Go, chumble thyself, ||and make sure thy friend.

4  dGive not sleep to thine eyes,

dNor slumber to thine eyelids.

5  Deliver thyself as a eroe from the hand of the hunter,

And fas a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6  gGo to the hant, thou isluggard;

Consider her ways, and kbe wise:

7  lWhich having no mguide, noverseer, or ruler,

8  hProvideth her meat in the summer,

And ogathereth her food in the harvest.

9  How long wilt thou sleep, O isluggard?

When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

10  pYet a little dsleep, a little dslumber,

A little folding of the hands to sleep:

11  qSo shall rthy poverty come as one that travelleth,

And thy want as an armed man.

12  rrA naughty person, a wicked man,

Walketh with a sfroward mouth.

13  He twinketh with his eyes,

He speaketh with his feet,

He teacheth with his fingers;

14  uFrowardness is in his heart,

xHe deviseth mischief continually;

He †soweth discord.

15  Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly;

ySuddenly shall he be broken zwithout remedy.

16  These asix things doth the Lord hate:

Yea, aseven are an abomination †unto him:

17  †A proud look, ba lying tongue,

And cehands that shed innocent blood,

18  dAn heart that deviseth ewicked imaginations,

efFeet that be swift in running to mischief,

19  A false witness gthat speaketh lies,

And he that hsoweth discord among brethren.

20  iMy son, keep thy father’s commandment,

And iforsake not the law of thy mother:

21  kBind them continually upon thine heart,

And ltie them about thy mneck.

22  nWhen thou goest, it shall lead thee;

nWhen thou sleepest, it oshall keep thee;

And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

23  For the commandment is pa ||lamp; and the law is plight;

And ppreproofs of instruction are the way of life:

24  To keep thee from the evil woman,

From qthe flattery ||of the tongue of a rstrange woman.

25  sLust not after her beauty in thine heart;

Neither let her take thee with ther eyelids.

26  For uby means of a whorish woman a man is brought to xa piece of bread:

And †the adulteress will yhunt for zthe precious life.

27  Can a man atake bfire in chis bosom,

And his clothes not be burned?

28  Can one dgo upon hot coals,

And his feet not be dburned?

29  So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife;

Whosoever toucheth her shall not be ddinnocent.

30  Men do not despise a thief, if he steal

eTo satisfy his eesoul when he is hungry;

31  But if he fbe found, fhe shall restore gsevenfold;

He shall give all the substance of his house.

32  But whoso committeth adultery with a woman hlacketh †understanding:

He that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

33  A wound and dishonour shall he get;

And his reproach shall not be wiped away.

34  For ijealousy is the rage of a man:

Therefore he will not spare kin the day of vengeance.

35  †He will not regard any ransom;

Neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.

7 aMy son, keep my words,

And alay up my commandments with thee.

2  bKeep my commandments, and blive;

And my law as cthe apple of thine eye.

3  dBind them upon thy fingers,

dWrite them upon the table of thine heart.

4  Say unto wisdom, Thou art emy sister;

And call understanding thy fkinswoman:

5  gThat they may keep thee from the strange woman,

gFrom the stranger which flattereth with her words.

6  For hat the window of my house

hI looked through my casement,

7  And beheld among the isimple ones,

I discerned among †the youths,

A young man kvoid of understanding,

8  Passing through the lstreet near mher corner;

And he went the way to her house,

9  In the ntwilight, †in the evening,

In the oblack and dark night:

10  And, behold, oothere met him a woman

With pthe attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

11  (She is qloud and rstubborn;

sHer feet abide not in her house:

12  Now is she without, now in the streets,

And sslieth in wait at mevery corner.)

13  So she caught him, and kissed him,

And †with an impudent face said unto him,

14  †I have tpeace offerings with me;

This day have I upayed my vows.

15  Therefore came I forth to meet thee,

xDiligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.

16  I have decked my bed with ycoverings of tapestry,

With carved works, with zfine linen of Egypt.

17  I have aperfumed my bed

With bmyrrh, baloes, and ccinnamon.

18  Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning:

Let us solace ourselves with loves.

19  For the dgoodman is not at home,

He is gone a long journey:

20  He hath taken a ebag of money †with him,

And will come home at ||the day appointed.

21  With her much ffair speech she caused him to yield,

With gthe flattering of her lips she forced him.

22  He goeth after her †straightway,

As an ox goeth to the slaughter,

Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;

23  Till a dart strike through his liver;

hAs a bird hasteth to the snare,

And knoweth not that it is for his life.

24  ikHearken unto me now therefore, O ye children,

And kattend to the words of my mouth.

25  Let not thine heart ldecline to her ways,

Go not astray in her paths.

26  For she hath cast down many wounded:

Yea, mmany strong men have been slain by her.

27  nHer house is the way to hell,

Going down to othe chambers of death.