5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
listen closely^[a] to my understanding^(A)
2 so that you may maintain discretion
and your lips safeguard knowledge.^(B)
3 Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey
and her words are^[b] smoother than oil,
⁴ in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood^(C)
and as sharp as a double-edged sword.^(D)
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps head straight for Sheol.^(E)
6 She doesn’t consider the path of life;
she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern,
water flowing from your own well.^(I)
16 Should your springs flow in the streets,
streams in the public squares?^(J)
17 They should be for you alone
and not for you to share with strangers.
¹⁸ Let your fountain be blessed,
and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.^(K)
19 A loving deer, a graceful doe^[d]—
let her breasts always satisfy you;^(L)
be lost in her love forever.
²⁰ Why, my son, would you lose yourself
with a forbidden woman
or embrace a wayward woman?^(M)
21 For a man’s ways are before the Lord’s eyes,^(N)
and he considers all his paths.^(O)
22 A wicked man’s iniquities will trap him;^(P)
he will become tangled in the ropes of his own sin.^(Q)
23 He will die because there is no discipline,^(R)
and be lost because of his great stupidity.

6 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor^[a]
or entered into an agreement with^[b] a stranger,^(A)
2 you have been snared by the words of your mouth—
trapped by the words from your mouth.
³ Do this, then, my son, and free yourself,
for you have put yourself in your neighbor’s power:
Go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor.
⁴ Don’t give sleep to your eyes
or slumber to your eyelids.^(B)
5 Escape like a gazelle from a hunter,^[c]
like a bird from a hunter’s trap.^[d](C)

⁶ Go to the ant,^(D) you slacker!^(E)
Observe its ways and become wise.
⁷ Without leader, administrator, or ruler,
⁸ it prepares its provisions in summer;
it gathers its food during harvest.^(F)
9 How long will you stay in bed, you slacker?
When will you get up from your sleep?
¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the arms to rest,
¹¹ and your poverty will come like a robber,
your need, like a bandit.^(G)

¹² A worthless person,^(H) a wicked man
goes around speaking dishonestly,^(I)
13 winking^(J) his eyes, signaling with his feet,
and gesturing with his fingers.
¹⁴ He always plots evil^(K) with perversity in his heart;
he stirs up trouble.^(L)
15 Therefore calamity will strike him suddenly;
he will be shattered instantly, beyond recovery.^(M)

¹⁶ The Lord hates six things;
in fact, seven are detestable to him:
¹⁷ arrogant eyes,^(N) a lying tongue,^(O)
hands that shed innocent blood,^(P)
18 a heart that plots wicked schemes,^(Q)
feet eager to run to evil,^(R)
19 a lying witness who gives false testimony,^(S)
and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.^(T)

²⁰ My son, keep your father’s command,
and don’t reject your mother’s teaching.^(U)
21 Always bind them to your heart;
tie them around your neck.^(V)
22 When you walk here and there, they will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up, they will talk to you.
²³ For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,^(W)
and corrective discipline is the way to life.^(X)
24 They will protect you from an evil woman,^[e]
from the flattering tongue of a wayward woman.^(Y)
25 Don’t lust in your heart for her beauty^(Z)
or let her captivate you with her eyelashes.^(AA)
26 For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread,^[f]
but the wife of another man^[g] goes after a precious life.^(AB)
27 Can a man embrace fire
and his clothes not be burned?
²⁸ Can a man walk on burning coals
without scorching his feet?
²⁹ So it is with the one who sleeps with
another man’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.^(AC)
30 People don’t despise the thief if he steals
to satisfy himself when he is hungry.^(AD)
31 Still, if caught, he must pay seven times as much;^(AE)
he must give up all the wealth in his house.
³² The one who commits adultery^[h] lacks sense;
whoever does so destroys himself.^(AF)
33 He will get a beating^[i] and dishonor,
and his disgrace will never be removed.
³⁴ For jealousy enrages a husband,^(AG)
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
³⁵ He will not be appeased by anything
or be persuaded by lavish bribes.

⁶ At the window of my house
I looked through my lattice.^(G)
7 I saw among the inexperienced,^[a]
I noticed among the youths,
a young man lacking sense.
⁸ Crossing the street near her corner,
he strolled down the road to her house
⁹ at twilight, in the evening,
in the dark of the night.^(H)
10 A woman came to meet him
dressed like a prostitute,^(I)
having a hidden agenda.^[b]
11 She is loud and defiant;^(J)
her feet do not stay at home.^(K)
12 Now in the street, now in the squares,^(L)
she lurks at every corner.^(M)
13 She grabs him and kisses him;
she brazenly says^[c] to him,
¹⁴ “I’ve made fellowship offerings;
today I’ve fulfilled my vows.^(N)
15 So I came out to meet you,
to search for you, and I’ve found you.
¹⁶ I’ve spread coverings on my bed^(O)—
richly colored linen from Egypt.^(P)
17 I’ve perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.^(Q)
18 Come, let’s drink deeply of lovemaking until morning.^(R)
Let’s feast on each other’s love!
¹⁹ My husband isn’t home;
he went on a long journey.
²⁰ He took a bag of silver with him
and will come home at the time of the full moon.”
²¹ She seduces him with her persistent pleading;
she lures with her flattering talk.
²² He follows her impulsively
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer bounding toward a trap^[d]
23 until an arrow pierces its^[e] liver,^(S)
like a bird darting into a snare^(T)—
he doesn’t know it will cost him his life.

8 Doesn’t wisdom^(A) call out?
Doesn’t understanding make her voice heard?
² At the heights overlooking the road,
at the crossroads, she takes her stand.
³ Beside the gates^(B) leading into the city,
at the main entrance, she cries out:
⁴ “People, I call out to you;
my cry is to the children of Adam.
⁵ Learn to be shrewd, you who are inexperienced;
develop common sense, you who are foolish.
⁶ Listen, for I speak of noble things,
and what my lips say is right.
⁷ For my mouth tells the truth,^(C)
and wickedness is detestable to my lips.
⁸ All the words from my mouth are righteous;
none of them are deceptive or perverse.^(D)
9 All of them are clear to the perceptive,^(E)
and right to those who discover knowledge.
¹⁰ Accept my instruction instead of silver,
and knowledge rather than pure gold.^(F)
11 For wisdom is better than jewels,^(G)
and nothing desirable can equal it.^(H)
12 I, wisdom, share a home with shrewdness
and have knowledge and discretion.^(I)
13 To fear the Lord is to hate evil.^(J)
I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct,
and perverse speech.
¹⁴ I possess good advice and sound wisdom;^[a]
I have understanding and strength.^(K)
15 It is by me that kings reign^(L)
and rulers enact just law;
¹⁶ by me, princes lead,
as do nobles and all righteous judges.^[b]
17 I love those who love me,^(M)
and those who search for me find me.^(N)
18 With me are riches and honor,^(O)
lasting wealth and righteousness.^(P)
19 My fruit is better than solid gold,
and my harvest than pure silver.^(Q)
20 I walk in the ways of righteousness,
along the paths of justice,
²¹ giving wealth as an inheritance to those who love me,
and filling their treasuries.

¹ Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous ones;
praise from the upright is beautiful.^(A)
2 Praise the Lord with the lyre;
make music to him with a ten-stringed harp.^(B)
3 Sing a new song to him;^(C)
play skillfully on the strings, with a joyful shout.^(D)