Proverbs 5

My son, give attention to my wisdom,
Incline your ear to my understanding;

^1-2 Dear friend, pay close attention to this, my wisdom;
    listen very closely to the way I see it.
Then you’ll acquire a taste for good sense;
    what I tell you will keep you out of trouble.

That you may observe discretion
And your lips may reserve knowledge.

For the lips of an ^[a]adulteress drip honey
And smoother than oil is her ^[b]speech;

The lips of a seductive woman are oh so sweet,
    her soft words are oh so smooth.
But it won’t be long before she’s gravel in your mouth,
    a pain in your gut, a wound in your heart.
She’s dancing down the primrose path to Death;
    she’s headed straight for Hell and taking you with her.
She hasn’t a clue about Real Life,
    about who she is or where she’s going.

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death,
Her steps take hold of Sheol.

^[c]She does not ponder the path of life;
Her ways are unstable, she does not know it.

Now then, my sons, listen to me
And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

So, my friend, listen closely;
    don’t treat my words casually.
Keep your distance from such a woman;
    absolutely stay out of her neighborhood.
You don’t want to squander your wonderful life,
    to waste your precious life among the hardhearted.
Why should you allow strangers to take advantage of you?
    Why be exploited by those who care nothing for you?
You don’t want to end your life full of regrets,
    nothing but sin and bones,
Saying, “Oh, why didn’t I do what they told me?
    Why did I reject a disciplined life?
Why didn’t I listen to my mentors,
    or take my teachers seriously?
My life is ruined!
    I haven’t one blessed thing to show for my life!”

Keep your way far from her
And do not go near the door of her house,

Or you will give your vigor to others
And your years to the cruel one;

And strangers will be filled with your strength
And your hard-earned goods will go to the house of an alien;

And you groan at your ^[d]final end,
When your flesh and your body are consumed;

And you say, “How I have hated instruction!
And my heart spurned reproof!

“I have not listened to the voice of my teachers,
Nor inclined my ear to my instructors!

“I was almost in utter ruin
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

Drink water from your own cistern
And ^[e]fresh water from your own well.

Do you know the saying, “Drink from your own rain barrel,
    draw water from your own spring-fed well”?
It’s true. Otherwise, you may one day come home
    and find your barrel empty and your well polluted.

Should your springs be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets?

Let them be yours alone
And not for strangers with you.

Your spring water is for you and you only,
    not to be passed around among strangers.
Bless your fresh-flowing fountain!
    Enjoy the wife you married as a young man!
Lovely as an angel, beautiful as a rose—
    don’t ever quit taking delight in her body.
    Never take her love for granted!
Why would you trade enduring intimacies for cheap thrills with a whore?
    for dalliance with a promiscuous stranger?

Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice in the wife of your youth.

As a loving hind and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be ^[f]exhilarated always with her love.

For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an ^[g]adulteress
And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He watches all his paths.

Mark well that God doesn’t miss a move you make;
    he’s aware of every step you take.
The shadow of your sin will overtake you;
    you’ll find yourself stumbling all over yourself in the dark.
Death is the reward of an undisciplined life;
    your foolish decisions trap you in a dead end.