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5:1  My son, be attentive to my wisdom [godly wisdom learned by costly experience], Incline your ear to my understanding;
5:2  That you may exercise discrimination and discretion (good judgment), And your lips may reserve knowledge and answer wisely [to temptation].
5:3  For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey [like a honeycomb] And her speech is smoother than oil;
5:4  But in the end she is bitter like [the extract of] wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
5:5  Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
5:6  So that she does not think [seriously] about the path of life; Her ways are aimless and unstable; you cannot know where her path leads.
5:7  Now then, my sons, listen to me And do not depart from (forget) the words of my mouth.
5:8  Let your way [in life] be far from her, And do not go near the door of her house [avoid even being near the places of temptation],
5:9  Or you will give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one,
5:10  And strangers will be filled with your strength And your hard-earned wealth will go to the house of a foreigner [who does not know God];
5:11  And you will groan when your life is ending, When your flesh and your body are consumed;
5:12  And you say, “How I hated instruction and discipline, And my heart despised correction and reproof!
5:13  “I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, Nor have I inclined my ear to those who instructed me.
5:14  “I was almost in total ruin In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”
5:15  Drink water from your own cistern [of a pure marriage relationship] And fresh running water from your own well.
5:16  Should your springs (children) be dispersed, As streams of water in the streets?
5:17  [Confine yourself to your own wife.] Let your children be yours alone, And not the children of strangers with you.
5:18  Let your fountain (wife) be blessed [with the rewards of fidelity], And rejoice in the wife of your youth.
5:19  Let her be as a loving hind and graceful doe, Let her breasts refresh and satisfy you at all times; Always be exhilarated and delight in her love.
5:20  Why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an immoral woman And embrace the bosom of an outsider (pagan)?
5:21  For the ways of man are directly before the eyes of the Lord, And He carefully watches all of his paths [all of his comings and goings].
5:22  The iniquities done by a wicked man will trap him, And he will be held with the cords of his sin.
5:23  He will die for lack of instruction (discipline), And in the greatness of his foolishness he will go astray and be lost.