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.