5:1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:
5:2 that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.
5:3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,
5:4 But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
5:5 Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.
5:6 She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesnt know it.
5:7 Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Dont depart from the words of my mouth.
5:8 Remove your way far from her. Dont come near the door of her house,
5:9 lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;
5:10 lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another mans house.
5:11 You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
5:12 and say, How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
5:13 neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!
5:14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly.
5:15 Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.
5:16 Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
5:17 Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.
5:18 Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
5:19 A loving doe and a graceful deer let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.
5:20 For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?
5:21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of Yahweh. He examines all his paths.
5:22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
5:23 He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.