5:1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight,
5:2 that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.
5:3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil
5:4 but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword.
5:5 Her feet go down to death her steps lead straight to the grave. [Hebrew: Sheol]
5:6 She gives no thought to the way of life her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.
5:7 Now then, my sons, listen to me do not turn aside from what I say.
5:8 Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house,
5:9 lest you give your best strength to others and your years to one who is cruel,
5:10 lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich another man’s house.
5:11 At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent.
5:12 You will say, How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction!
5:13 I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors.
5:14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.
5:15 Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.
5:16 Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?
5:17 Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.
5:18 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
5:19 A loving doe, a graceful deer may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love.
5:20 Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man’s wife?
5:21 For a man’s ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths.
5:22 The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him the cords of his sin hold him fast.
5:23 He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.