1  My son, be ^tattentive to my wisdom;

incline your ear to my understanding,

2  that you may keep discretion,

and ^uyour lips may guard knowledge.

3  ^vFor the lips of a forbidden¹ woman drip honey,

and ^wher speech² is smoother than oil,

4  but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

sharp as a two-edged sword.

5  ^xHer feet go down to death;

her steps follow the path to³ Sheol;

6  she does not ponder the path of life;

her ways wander, and she does not know it.

7  And now, O sons, listen to me,

and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

8  ^yKeep 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 labors go to the house of a foreigner,

11  and at the end of your life you groan,

when your flesh and body are consumed,

12  and you say, “How I ^zhated ^adiscipline,

and my heart ^bdespised reproof!

13  I did not listen to the voice of my teachers

or incline my ear to my instructors.

14  I am at the brink of utter ruin

in the assembled congregation.”

15  Drink water from your own cistern,

flowing water from your own well.

16  Should your ^csprings be scattered abroad,

streams of water in the streets?

17  Let them be for yourself alone,

and not for strangers with you.

18  Let your fountain be blessed,

and rejoice in the wife of your youth,

19  a lovely deer, a graceful doe.

Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;

be intoxicated⁴ always in her love.

20  Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman

and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?⁵

21  For ^da man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord,

and he ^eponders⁶ all his paths.

22  The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,

and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.

23  He dies for lack of discipline,

and because of his great folly he is led astray.

1  My son, if you have ^fput up security for your neighbor,

have given your pledge for a stranger,

2  if you are ^gsnared in the words of your mouth,

caught in the words of your mouth,

3  then do this, my son, and save yourself,

for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:

go, hasten,¹ and plead urgently with your neighbor.

4  ^hGive your eyes ⁱno sleep

and your eyelids no slumber;

5  save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,²

like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6  ^jGo to the ^kant, O sluggard;

consider her ways, and be wise.

7  ^lWithout having any chief,

officer, or ruler,

8  she prepares her bread ^min summer

and gathers her food in harvest.

9  How long will you lie there, O sluggard?

When will you arise from your sleep?

10  ⁿA little sleep, a little slumber,

a little ^ofolding of the hands to rest,

11  and ^ppoverty will come upon you like a robber,

and want like an armed man.

12  A worthless person, a wicked man,

goes about with ^qcrooked speech,

13  ^rwinks with his eyes, signals³ with his feet,

^spoints with his finger,

14  with perverted heart ^tdevises evil,

continually sowing ^udiscord;

15  therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;

^vin a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

16  There are ^wsix things that the Lord hates,

seven that are an abomination to him:

17  haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

and hands that shed innocent blood,

18  a heart that devises wicked plans,

^xfeet that make haste to run to evil,

19  a false witness who ^ybreathes out lies,

and one who sows discord among brothers.

20  My son, keep your ^zfather’s commandment,

and ^aforsake not ^byour mother’s teaching.

21  ^cBind them on your heart always;

tie them around your neck.

22  ^dWhen you walk, they⁴ will lead you;

when you lie down, they will watch over you;

and when you awake, they will talk with you.

23  For the commandment is a ^elamp and the teaching a light,

and the ^freproofs of ^gdiscipline are the way of life,

24  ^hto preserve you from the evil woman,⁵

from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.⁶

25  Do not desire her beauty in your heart,

and do not let her capture you ⁱwith her eyelashes;

26  for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread,⁷

but a married woman⁸ hunts down a precious life.

27  Can a man carry ^jfire next to his chest

and his clothes not be burned?

28  Or can one walk on hot coals

and his feet not be scorched?

29  So is he who goes in to ^khis neighbor’s wife;

none who touches her will go unpunished.

30  People do not despise a thief if he steals

to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,

31  but ^lif he is caught, he will pay ^msevenfold;

he will give all the goods of his house.

32  He who ⁿcommits adultery lacks sense;

he who does it destroys himself.

33  He will get wounds and dishonor,

and his disgrace will not be wiped away.

34  For ^ojealousy makes a man furious,

and he will not spare when he takes revenge.

35  He will accept no compensation;

he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

1  My son, keep my words

and ^ptreasure up my commandments with you;

2  ^qkeep my commandments ^rand live;

keep my teaching as ^sthe apple of your eye;

3  ^tbind them on your fingers;

write them on the tablet of your heart.

4  Say to wisdom, “You are ^umy sister,”

and call insight your intimate friend,

5  ^vto keep you from the forbidden⁹ woman,

from the adulteress¹⁰ with her smooth words.

6  For at the window of my house

I have looked out through my lattice,

7  and I have seen among the simple,

I have perceived among the youths,

a young man lacking sense,

8  passing along the street near her corner,

taking the road to ^wher house

9  in the ^xtwilight, in the evening,

at the time of night and darkness.

10  And behold, the woman meets him,

dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.¹¹

11  She is ^yloud and wayward;

her feet do not stay at home;

12  now in the street, now in the market,

and at every corner ^zshe lies in wait.

13  ^aShe seizes him and kisses him,

and with bold face she says to him,

14  “I had to offer ^bsacrifices,¹²

and today I have paid my vows;

15  so now I have come out to meet you,

to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.

16  I have spread my couch with coverings,

colored linens from Egyptian ^clinen;

17  I have ^dperfumed my bed with myrrh,

aloes, and cinnamon.

18  Come, let us take our ^efill of love till morning;

let us delight ourselves with love.

19  For ^fmy husband is not at home;

he has gone on a long journey;

20  he took a bag of money with him;

at full moon he will come home.”

21  With much seductive speech she persuades him;

with her ^gsmooth talk she compels him.

22  All at once he follows her,

as an ox goes to the slaughter,

or as a stag is caught fast¹³

23  till an arrow pierces its liver;

as a bird rushes into a snare;

he does not know that it will cost him his life.

24  And now, O sons, listen to me,

and be attentive to the words of my mouth.

25  ^hLet not your heart turn aside to her ways;

do not stray into her paths,

26  for many a victim has she laid low,

and all her slain are a mighty throng.

27  ⁱHer house is the way to Sheol,

going down to the chambers of death.