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.

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.