Proverbs 5:1-18

My son, be attentive to my wisdom [godly wisdom learned by costly experience], Incline your ear to my understanding; [1 Kin 4:29] That you may exercise discrimination and discretion (good judgment), And your lips may reserve knowledge and answer wisely [to temptation]. For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey [like a honeycomb] And her speech is smoother than oil; [Ezek 20:30; Col 2:8-10; 2 Pet 2:14-17] But in the end she is bitter like [the extract of] wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), So that she does not think [seriously] about the path of life; Her ways are aimless and unstable; you cannot know where her path leads. ¶Now then, my sons, listen to me And do not depart from (forget) the words of my mouth. Let your way [in life] be far from her, And do not go near the door of her house [avoid even being near the places of temptation], [Prov 4:15; Rom 16:17; 1 Thess 5:19-22] Or you will give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one, And strangers will be filled with your strength And your hard-earned wealth will go to the house of a foreigner [who does not know God]; And you will groan when your life is ending, When your flesh and your body are consumed; And you say, “How I hated instruction and discipline, And my heart despised correction and reproof! “I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, Nor have I inclined my ear to those who instructed me. “I was almost in total ruin In the midst of the assembly and congregation.” ¶Drink water from your own cistern [of a pure marriage relationship] And fresh running water from your own well. Should your springs (children) be dispersed, As streams of water in the streets? [Confine yourself to your own wife.] Let your children be yours alone, And not the children of strangers with you. Let your fountain (wife) be blessed [with the rewards of fidelity], And rejoice in the wife of your youth. [Song 4:12, 15]