Warning Against Adultery
aMy son, be attentive to my wisdom;
bincline your ear to my understanding,
2 that you may keep adiscretion,
and your lips may bguard knowledge.
3 For the lips of aa forbidden woman drip honey,
and her speech is bsmoother than oil,
4 but in the end she is abitter as bwormwood,
csharp as da two‑edged sword.
5 Her feet ago down to death;
her steps follow the path to Sheol;
6 she adoes not ponder the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it.
7 And anow, 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 alabors go to the house of a foreigner,
11 and at the end of your life you agroan,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
12 and you say, a“How I hated discipline,
and my heart bdespised reproof!
13 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
or incline my ear to my instructors.
14 aI am at the brink of utter ruin
in the assembled congregation.”
15 Drink awater from your own cistern,
flowing water from your own well.
16 Should your asprings be scattered abroad,
streams of water bin the streets?
17 aLet them be for yourself alone,
and not for strangers with you.
18 Let your afountain be blessed,
and brejoice in cthe wife of your youth,
19 a lovely adeer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts bfill you at all times with delight;
be intoxicated always in her love.
20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with aa forbidden woman
and embrace the bosom of aan adulteress?
21 For aa man’s ways are bbefore the eyes of the Lord,
and he cponders all his paths.
22 The ainiquities of the wicked bensnare him,
and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
23 aHe dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly he is bled astray.