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5
1 My son, attend to my wisdom. And bow thine ear to my understanding; 2 That thou mayest keep discretion, And that thy lips may preserve knowledge! 3 Truly, the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil; 4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; Her steps lay hold of the under-world. 6 That she may not ponder the way of life, Her paths waver when she heedeth it not. 7 Hear me now, therefore, O children! And turn not away from the words of my mouth! 8 Remove thy way far from her. And come not nigh the door of her house: 9 Lest thou give thy bloom to others, And thy years to a cruel one; 10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, And thine earnings be in the house of an alien; 11 And lest thou mourn in thy latter end. When thy flesh and thy body are consumed, 12 And say, “How have I hated instruction! And how hath my heart despised reproof! 13 I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to my instructors; 14 I have well-nigh fallen into utter misery; In the midst of the congregation and the assembly.” 15 Drink water out of thine own cistern. And running water out of thine own well: 16 So shall thy fountains overflow in the streets, In the wide streets, as streams of water; 17 They shall belong to thee alone, And not to strangers with thee; 18 And thy fountain shall be blessed, Yea, thou shalt have joy in the wife of thy youth. 19 A lovely hind, a graceful doe, Her breasts shall satisfy thee at all times, And thou shalt be always ravished with her love. 20 Why, then, my son, wilt thou be ravished with a wanton, And embrace the bosom of a stranger? 21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And he weigheth well all his paths. 22 His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked; Yea, he shall be held fast by the cords of his own sins. 23 He shall die for want of instruction; Yea, through the greatness of his folly he shall stagger.

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