Warning Against Adultery

5 My son,k pay attention to my wisdom,

turn your ear to my wordsl of insight,

2 that you may maintain discretion

and your lips may preserve knowledge.

3 For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,

and her speech is smoother than oil;m

4 but in the end she is bitter as gall,n

sharp as a double-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death;

her steps lead straight to the grave.o

6 She gives no thought to the way of life;

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

7 Now then, my sons, listenq to me;

do not turn aside from what I say.

8 Keep to a path far from her,r

do not go near the door of her house,

9 lest you lose your honor to others

and your dignitya to one who is cruel,

10 lest strangers feast on your wealth

and your toil enrich the house of another.s

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!t

13 I would not obey my teachers

or turn my ear to my instructors.

14 And I was soon in serious troubleu

in the assembly of God’s people.”v

15 Drink water from your own cistern,

running water from your own well.

16 Should your springs overflow in the streets,

your streams of water in the public squares?

17 Let them be yours alone,

never to be shared with strangers.

18 May your fountainw be blessed,

and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.x

19 A loving doe, a graceful deery—

may her breasts satisfy you always,

may you ever be intoxicated with her love.

20 Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?

Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

21 For your ways are in full viewz of the Lord,

and he examinesa all your paths.b

22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;c

the cords of their sins hold them fast.d

23 For lack of discipline they will die,e

led astray by their own great folly.f