1 M y son! to my wisdom give attention, To mine understanding incline thine ear,

2 T o observe thoughtfulness, And knowledge do thy lips keep.

3 F or the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And smoother than oil her mouth,

4 A nd her latter end bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a sword mouths.

5 H er feet are going down to death, Sheol do her steps take hold of.

6 T he path of life -- lest thou ponder, Moved have her paths -- thou knowest not.

7 A nd now, ye sons, hearken to me, And turn not from sayings of my mouth.

8 K eep far from off her thy way, And come not near unto the opening of her house,

9 L est thou give to others thy honour, And thy years to the fierce,

10 L est strangers be filled thy power, And thy labours in the house of a stranger,

11 A nd thou hast howled in thy latter end, In the consumption of thy flesh and thy food,

12 A nd hast said, `How have I hated instruction, And reproof hath my heart despised,

13 A nd I have not hearkened to the voice of my directors, And to my teachers have not inclined mine ear.

14 A s a little thing I have been all evil, In the midst of an assembly and a company.

15 D rink waters out of thine own cistern, Even flowing ones out of thine own well.

16 L et thy fountains be scattered abroad, In broad places rivulets of waters.

17 L et them be to thee for thyself, And not to strangers with thee.

18 L et thy fountain be blessed, And rejoice because of the wife of thy youth,

19 A hind of loves, and a roe of grace! Let her loves satisfy thee at all times, In her love magnify thyself continually.

20 A nd why dost thou magnify thyself, My son, with a stranger? And embrace the bosom of a strange woman?

21 F or over-against the eyes of Jehovah are the ways of each, And all his paths He is pondering.

22 H is own iniquities do capture the wicked, And with the ropes of his sin he is holden.

23 H e dieth without instruction, And in the abundance of his folly magnifieth himself!