My son, attend to my wisdom, and bend thy ear to my understanding:

My son, be attentive to my wisdom; give ear to my understanding,

that thou mayst preserve discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

To heed thoughts — and your lips will guard wisdom.

For the lips of a strange woman drip honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

For the lips of the strange woman [(heresy)] drip as a honeycomb, and her palate is smoother than oil.

but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two edged sword.

But her end is bitter as wormwood, as sharp as a two-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death: her steps take hold of She᾽ol.

Her footpaths lead to death; her steps approach Sheol.

She is far from measuring her way of life; her paths wander, and she is ignorant.

Do not weigh the path of life [(i.e., which path to take) by the standards of "the strange woman," for] her paths terminate [in Sheol, and] you will not know [(to take heed until you have fallen there)].

Hear me now therefore, O children, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

And now, [my] sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

Remove thy way far from her, and do not come near the door of her house:

Remove your ways far from her, and do not come close to the doors of her house.

lest thou give thy vigour to others, and thy years to the cruel one:

Lest you give your glory to others, [i.e., lest you turn your heart to other gods)], and your [remaining] years to the cruel one [(the prince of Gehinnom)].

lest strangers be filled with thy strength; and thy labours go to the house of a stranger:

Lest strangers [(the prophets of the ba'al)] be sated with your strength [(the money they extort from you by their falsehoods)], and [the products of] your toil [be found] in the house of a strange [god].

and thou moan when thy end comes, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

And you will make moan in your latter end, when your flesh and form fall away.

and thou say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof!

And you will say: "How could I have hated mussar and my heart spurned rebuke?"

And I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor bent my ear to those who instructed me!

"And [how could] I not have listened to the voice of my masters and not inclined my ear to my teachers?"

I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

"There is but a step between me and all evil [(Gehinnom)] in the midst of congregation and assembly."

Drink waters out of thy own cistern, and running waters out of thy own well.

Drink [(gathered)] water from your pit [(the Torah of Moses)], and [(in consequence,)] flowing water from your well, [and, in consequence of that)],

So will thy spring be dispersed abroad, and streams of water will flow in the broad places.

Your springs will spread outwards [i.e., you will acquire many disciples]. In the thoroughfares [of the city] the streams of [your] waters will spread.

Let them be only thy own, and not strangers’ with thee.

They [(the waters)] will be yours alone, strangers not sharing them with you [(as opposed to 5:10), and, in consequence],

Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

Your source will be blessed and you will rejoice in the wife of your youth [(i.e., in the Torah that you learned from your youth)].

A loving hind and a pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

[She will be to you] a beloved hind, of excellent favor; her breasts will sate you at all times; in their love, you will stray always [(from your other affairs, and she will guard them for you)].

And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of an alien?

Why, then, my son, should you stray with a strange woman and embrace the lap of a woman who is foreign to you?

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his goings.

For before the eyes of the L-rd are the ways of a man, and He weighs all of his paths [(for transgression or merit)].

His own iniquities shall trap the wicked man, and he shall be caught fast in the cords of his sins.

The transgressions of the wicked one will entrap him, and he will be hoisted in the cords of his sin.

He shall die for want of instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

He will die for refusal of chastisement, and for the abundance of his foolishness in which he has strayed.