7
Now then, my sons, listen to me;
do not turn aside from what I say.
8
Keep to a path far from her,
do not go near the door of her house,
9
lest you give your best strength to others
and your years to one who is cruel,
10
lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich another man’s house.
11
At the end of your life you will groan,
when your flesh and body are spent.
12
You will say, “How I hated discipline!
How my heart spurned correction!
13
I would not obey my teachers
or listen to my instructors.
14
I have come to the brink of utter ruin
in the midst of the whole assembly.”
15
Drink water from your own cistern,
running water from your own well.
16
Should your springs overflow in the streets,
your streams of water in the public squares?
17
Let them be yours alone,
never to be shared with strangers.
18
May your fountain be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19
A loving doe, a graceful deer—
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be captivated by her love.
20
Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress?
Why embrace the bosom of another man’s wife?
21
For a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord,
and he examines all his paths.
22
The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him;
the cords of his sin hold him fast.
23
He will die for lack of discipline,
led astray by his own great folly.