Proverbs 5

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom;

²that you may maintain discretion

³Though the lips of the forbidden woman 5:3 Or the adulteress drip honey

⁴in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

⁵Her feet go down to death;

⁶She does not consider the path of life;

⁷So now, my sons, listen to me,

⁸Keep your path far from her;

⁹lest you concede your vigor to others,

¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth,

¹¹At the end of your life you will groan

¹²and you will say, “How I hated discipline,

¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachers

¹⁴I am on the brink of utter ruin

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern,

¹⁶Why should your springs flow in the streets,

¹⁷Let them be yours alone,

¹⁸May your fountain be blessed,

¹⁹A loving doe, a graceful fawn—

²⁰Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress,

²¹For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD,

²²The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him;

²³He dies for lack of discipline,