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