¹

My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding,

²

That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge.

³

For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;

⁴

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵

Her feet go down to death,

⁶

Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do not know them.

⁷

Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸

Remove 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 cruel one;

¹⁰

Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;

¹¹

And you mourn at last, When your flesh and your body are consumed,

¹²

And say: “How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction!

¹³

I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!

¹⁴

I was on the verge of total ruin, In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

¹⁵

Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well.