My son, attend
unto my wisdom
, and bow
thine ear
to my understanding
:
That thou mayest regard discretion
, and that thy lips
may keep
knowledge
.
For the lips of a strange woman
drop
as an honeycomb
, and her mouth
is smoother
than oil
:
But her end is bitter
as wormwood
, sharp
as a twoedged
sword
.
Her feet go down
to death
; her steps
take hold
on hell
.
Lest thou shouldest ponder the path
of life
, her ways
are moveable
, that thou canst not know
them .
Hear me now therefore, O ye children
, and depart
not from the words
of my mouth
.
Remove thy way
far
from her, and come not nigh
the door
of her house
:
Lest thou give thine honour
unto others
, and thy years
unto the cruel
:
Lest strangers be filled
with thy wealth
; and thy labours
be in the house
of a stranger
;
And thou mourn at the last
, when thy flesh
and thy body
are consumed
,
And say, How have I hated
instruction
, and my heart
despised
reproof
;
And have not obeyed the voice
of my teachers
, nor inclined
mine ear
to them that instructed
me!
I was almost in all evil
in the midst
of the congregation
and assembly
.
Drink waters
out of thine own cistern
, and running waters
out of
thine own well
.
Let thy fountains be dispersed
abroad
, and rivers
of waters
in the streets
.
Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
Let thy fountain be blessed
: and rejoice
with the wife
of thy youth
.
Let her be as the loving hind
and pleasant
roe
; let her breasts
satisfy
thee at all times
; and be thou ravished
always
with her love
.
And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished
with a strange woman
, and embrace
the bosom
of a stranger
?
For the ways of man
are before
the eyes
of the LORD
, and he pondereth
all his goings
.
His own iniquities shall take
the wicked
himself, and he shall be holden
with the cords
of his sins
.
He shall die without instruction
; and in the greatness
of his folly
he shall go astray
.