Chapter 5

Pitfalls of Immorality

1 My son, agive attention to my wisdom,

bIncline your ear to my understanding;

2 That you may aobserve discretion

And your blips may reserve knowledge.

3 For the lips of an 1aadulteress bdrip honey

And csmoother than oil is her 2speech;

4 But in the end she is abitter as wormwood,

bSharp as a two-edged sword.

5 Her feet ago down to death,

Her steps take hold of Sheol.

6 1She does not ponder the apath of life;

Her ways are bunstable, she cdoes not know it.

7 aNow then, my sons, listen to me

And bdo not depart from the words of my mouth.

8 aKeep your way far from her

And do not go near the bdoor 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 1final end,

When your flesh and your body are consumed;

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

And my heart bspurned reproof!

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

Nor inclined my ear to my instructors!

14 “I was almost in utter ruin

In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

15 Drink water from your own cistern

And 1fresh water from your own well.

16 Should your asprings be dispersed abroad,

Streams of water in the streets?

17 Let them be yours alone

And not for strangers with you.

18 Let your afountain be blessed,

And brejoice in the cwife of your youth.

19 As a loving ahind and a graceful doe,

Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;

Be 1exhilarated always with her love.

20 For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an 1aadulteress

And embrace the bosom of a bforeigner?

21 For the aways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord,

And He bwatches all his paths.

22 His aown iniquities will capture the wicked,

And he will be held with the cords of his sin.

23 He will adie for lack of instruction,

And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.