Dual Panel1“My son, attend to my wisdom and listen with care to my counsel,
2so that you may preserve discretion and your lips safeguard knowledge.
3For though the lips of an adulteress drip honey and her tongue is smoother than oil,
4yet in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, as sharp as a two-edged sword.
5Her feet tread the downward path towards death, the road she walks leads straight to Sheol.
6She does not mark out the path to life; her course twists this way and that, but she is unconcerned.”
7Now, my sons, listen to me and do not ignore what I say:
8keep well away from her and do not go near the door of her house,
9or you will surrender your vigour to others, the pride of your manhood to the heartless.
10Strangers will batten on your wealth, and your hard-won gains pass to the family of another.
11When you shrink to skin and bone you will end by groaning
12and saying, “Oh, why did I hate correction and set my heart against reproof?
13Why did I not listen to the voice of my teachers and pay heed to my instructors?
14I was almost brought to ruin in the public assembly.”
15Drink water from your own cistern, fresh water from your own spring.
16Do not let your well overflow into the road, your runnels of water pour into the street.
17Let them be for yourself alone, not shared with strangers.
18Let your fountain, the wife of your youth, be blessed; find your joy in her.
19A lovely doe, a graceful hind, let her be your companion; her love will satisfy you at all times and wrap you round continually.
20Why, my son, are you wrapped in the love of an adulteress? Why do you embrace a loose woman?
21The LORD watches a man's ways, marking every course he takes.
22He who is wicked is caught in his own iniquities, held fast in the toils of his own sin;
23for want of discipline he will perish, wrapped in the shroud of his boundless folly.