Warning Against Adultery
My son, apay attention to my wisdom,
bIncline your ear to my discernment;
2 That you may akeep discretion
And that your blips may guard knowledge.
3 For the lips of a astrange woman bdrip honey
And csmoother than oil is her speech;
4 But her end is abitter as wormwood,
bSharp as a two‑edged sword.
5 Her feet ago down to death,
Her steps take hold of Sheol,
6 Lest she watch the apath of life;
Her tracks are bunstable, she cdoes not know it.
7 aSo now, my sons, listen to me
And bdo not turn away from the words of my mouth.
8 aKeep your way far from her
And do not go near the bdoor of her house,
9 Lest you give your splendor to others
And your years to the cruel one;
10 Lest strangers be satisfied by your strength
And by your painful labor, those in the house of a foreigner;
11 And you groan at your end,
When your flesh and your body are consumed;
12 And you say, “How I have ahated discipline!
And my heart bspurned reproof!
13 I have not listened to the voice of my ainstructors,
And I have not inclined my ear to my teachers!
14 I was almost in utter ruin
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”
15 Drink water from your own cistern
And fresh water from your own well.
16 Should your asprings be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be for you alone,
And not for strangers with you.
18 Let your afountain be blessed,
And bbe glad in the cwife of your youth.
19 As a loving ahind and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be intoxicated always with her love.
20 So why should you, my son, be intoxicated with a astrange woman
And embrace the bosom of a bforeign woman?
21 For the aways of a man are before the eyes of Yahweh,
And He bwatches all his tracks.
22 His aown iniquities will capture him who is the wicked one,
And with the cords of his sin he will be held fast.
23 He will adie for lack of discipline,
And in the abundance of his folly he will stumble in intoxication.