1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom {chokhmah: practical skill}, incline your ear to my understanding {tevunah: analytical insight}.
2 So that you may keep discretion {mezimmot: mindful intent}, and your lips guard {yintzoru: actively preserve} knowledge.
3 For honeycomb {nofet: honeycomb} drips from the lips of a strange woman, and her mouth {chikah: soft palate} is smoother than oil.
4 But her end is bitter as wormwood {ka-la-anah: intensely bitter plant} and sharp as a sword with double edges {piyyot: plural “mouths”}.
5 Her feet {ragleha: moral path} go down to death, and her steps take hold of Sheol {sheol: underworld realm}.
6 She does not weigh {tefalles: give careful thought} the path of life; her tracks wander; she does not know {yada: perceive, be aware}.
7 And now, my sons {banim: wisdom heirs}, listen to me; and do not turn aside {tasuru: depart from path} from the words of my mouth.
8 Put your way far from her, and do not approach the doorway {petach: opening threshold} of her house {beitah: private dwelling}.
9 Lest you give your honor {hodekha: majesty bestowed} to others and your years to a cruel one {akhzari: ruthless person}.
10 Lest strangers be satisfied with your strength {koach: vigor, substance}, and your labors {atzav: painful effort} be in the house of a foreigner.
11 And you will groan at your end, when your flesh {basar: physical substance} is finished and your body {she’er: innermost being} is consumed.
12 And you will say, “How I hated discipline {musar: moral instruction}, and my heart despised correction {tochachat: reproof}!”
13 And I did not listen to the voice of my teachers {morai: guides imparting insight}, nor did I incline my ear to my instructors {limlamdai: facilitators of learning}.
14 I was almost in utter ruin in the midst of the assembly {kahal: public congregation} and the gathering {edah: appointed council}.
15 Drink water from your cistern {borekha: subterranean reservoir} and flowing streams from within your well {be'er: dug well}.
16 Should your springs {ma’yanoteicha: personal wellspring} be dispersed outside, your streams of water {mayim: life-giving} in the streets?
17 Let them be yours alone {levadekha: apart from all}, and not for strangers {zarim: outsiders, foreigners} with you.
18 Let your fountain {meqorkha: enduring source} be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth {neurekha: youthful strength}.
19 A doe of loves {ahavim: ardent affection}, a deer of grace—may her breasts satisfy you at all times; may you ever be intoxicated {tishgeh: enraptured delight} in her love.
20 And why would you, my son, be intoxicated {tishgēh: intoxicated desire} with a foreign woman and embrace the bosom of an outsider {nakhriyya: one outside the covenant}?
21 For a man’s ways are in full view of the LORD {YHWH, Omniscient Observer}, and He weighs all his paths {ma‘gelotav: habitual courses}.
22 His iniquities will ensnare {yilkeduno: trap him} him—the wicked, and by the cords {chavlei: binding ropes} of his sin he will be held fast.
23 He will die because he lacked discipline {musar: moral instruction}, and in the greatness of his folly {ivalto: senselessness} he will go astray.