Proverbs 5:3–15

³Though the lips of the forbidden woman^a drip honey

and her speech^b is smoother than oil,

⁴in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

sharp as a double-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death;

her steps lead straight to Sheol.^c

⁶She does not consider the path of life;

she does not know that her ways are unstable.

⁷So now, my sons, listen to me,

and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth.

⁸Keep your path far from her;

do not go near the door of her house,

⁹lest you concede your vigor to others,

and your years to one who is cruel;

¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth,

and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner.

¹¹At the end of your life you will groan

when your flesh and your body are spent,

¹²and you will say, “How I hated discipline,

and my heart despised reproof!

¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachers

or incline my ear to my mentors.

¹⁴I am on the brink of utter ruin

in the midst of the whole assembly.”

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern,

and running water from your own well.