1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Listen carefully to my wise sayings.
2 Then you will continue to have good sense. Your lips will keep on speaking words of knowledge.
3 A woman who commits adultery has lips that drip honey. What she says is smoother than oil.
4 But in the end she is like bitter poison. She cuts like a sword that has two edges.
5 Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to the grave.
6 She doesn't give any thought to her way of life. Her paths are crooked, but she doesn't realize it.
7 My sons, listen to me. Don't turn away from what I say.
8 Stay on a path far away from that evil woman. Don't even go near the door of her house.
9 If you do, you will give your best strength to others. You will give the best years of your life to someone who is mean.
10 Strangers will use up all of your wealth. Your hard work will make someone else rich.
11 At the end of your life you will groan. Your skin and your body will be worn out.
12 You will say, "How I hated to take advice! How my heart refused to be corrected!
13 I would not obey my teachers. I wouldn't listen to those who taught me.
14 I was almost totally destroyed. It happened right in front of the whole community."
15 Drink water from your own well. Drink running water from your own spring.
16 Should your springs pour out into the streets? Should your streams of water pour out in public places?
17 No! Let them belong to you alone. Never share them with strangers.
18 May your fountain be blessed. May the wife you married when you were young make you happy.
19 She is like a loving doe, a graceful deer. May her breasts always satisfy you. May you always be captured by her love.
20 My son, why be captured by a woman who commits adultery? Why hug the wife of another man?
21 The Lord watches a man's ways. He studies all of his paths.
22 A sinner is trapped by his own evil acts. He is held tight by the ropes of his sins.