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.

As a loving hind and a gentle doe, let her breasts ever give you rapture; let your passion at all times be moved by her love.

Why, my son, would you be infatuated
with a forbidden woman
or embrace the breast of a stranger?

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.

My son, if you have become surety (guaranteed a debt or obligation) for your neighbor,
If you have given your pledge for [the debt of] a stranger or another [outside your family],

If you have been snared with the words of your lips,
If you have been trapped by the speech of your mouth,

Do this now, my son, and release yourself [from the obligation];
Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor,
Go humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor [to pay his debt and release you].

Give no [unnecessary] sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;

Tear yourself away like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter
And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,

How long will you lie down, O lazy one?
When will you arise from your sleep [and learn self-discipline]?

So your poverty will come like an approaching prowler who walks [slowly, but surely]
And your need [will come] like an armed man [making you helpless].

Who winks with his eyes [in mockery], who shuffles his feet [to signal],
Who points with his fingers [to give subversive instruction];

deceits are in his heart; he deviseth mischief at all times, he soweth discords.

These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

Eyes that are lofty, a tongue that is false, and hands shedding innocent blood;

A heart that deviseth wicked purposes, Feet that are swift in running to mischief,

My son, be guided by your father’s [God-given] commandment (instruction)
And do not reject the teaching of your mother;

Bind them continually upon your heart (in your thoughts),
And tie them around your neck.

When you walk about, they (the godly teachings of your parents) will guide you;
When you sleep, they will keep watch over you;
And when you awake, they will talk to you.

For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

Do not desire (lust after) her beauty in your heart,
Nor let her capture you with her eyelashes.

For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread,
but an adulteress goes after a precious life.

Doth a man take fire into his bosom, And are his garments not burnt?

Or can one walk upon hot coals, And his feet not be scorched?

So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
Whoever touches her will not be found innocent or go unpunished.

But if he may be gotten, he restoreth again seven times as much, or else he maketh recompense with all the goods of his house.

He will not be appeased by anything
or be persuaded by lavish gifts.

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My child, keep my words and treasure up my commands in your own keeping.

Keep my commandments and live,
And keep my teaching and law as the apple of your eye.

Bind them [securely] on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.

Say to [skillful and godly] wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And regard understanding and intelligent insight as your intimate friends;

So that they may keep you from the strange woman, even from her whose words are smooth.

Sacrifices of peace-offerings are with me; This day have I paid my vows.

“So I came out to meet you [that you might share with me the feast of my offering],
Diligently I sought your face and I have found you.

Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.

He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;

Till an arrow strike through his liver; As a bird hasteth to the snare, And knoweth not that it is for his life.

So now, my sons, give ear to me; give attention to the sayings of my mouth;

Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her [evil, immoral] paths.

For she hath cast down many wounded: Yea, all her slain are a mighty host.

The ways of Sheol [are] her house, descending to chambers of death.

On the top of high places by the way, Where the paths meet, she standeth;

Where the roads go into the town her cry goes out, at the doorways her voice is loud:

Learn to be shrewd, you who are inexperienced;
develop common sense, you who are foolish.

Give ear, for my words are true, and my lips are open to give out what is upright.

For good faith goes out of my mouth, and false lips are disgusting to me.

All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.

They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.

For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

The fear of the Lord is seen in hating evil: pride, a high opinion of oneself, the evil way, and the false tongue, are unpleasing to me.

{Advice and sound judgment} are mine; I am understanding, {strength is mine}.

Through me chiefs have authority, and the noble ones are judging in righteousness.

Those who have given me their love are loved by me, and those who make search for me with care will get me.

Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.

“I, [Wisdom, continuously] walk in the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,

I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.

When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.

Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:

While He had not yet made the earth and the fields,
Or the first of the dust of the earth.

When he made strong the skies overhead: when the fountains of the deep were fixed:

Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.

Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.

“Heed (pay attention to) instruction and be wise,
And do not ignore or neglect it.

Happy is the man who gives ear to me, watching at my doors day by day, keeping his place by the pillars of my house.

“But he who fails to find me or sins against me injures himself;
All those who hate me love and court death.”

"O come on your way, eat my bread, and drink my wine, which I have poured out for you.

Leave your simple ways, and live. Walk in the way of understanding."

Don’t rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you;
rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.

The fear of the LORD is where wisdom begins, and knowing holiness demonstrates understanding.

For by me do thy days multiply, And added to thee are years of life.

If you are wise, you are wise for yourself [for your own benefit];
If you scoff [thoughtlessly ridicule and disdain], you alone will pay the penalty.

She sits at the doorway of her house,
On a seat by the high and conspicuous places of the city,

To call to those passing by the way, Who are going straight on their paths.

Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

Treasures of wickedness and ill-gotten gains do not profit,
But righteousness and moral integrity in daily life rescues from death.

Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.

He whose ways are upright will go safely, but he whose ways are twisted will be made low.

Those who wink their eyes are trouble makers, and the mocking fool will be brought down.

Hate is a cause of violent acts, but all errors are covered up by love.

On the lips of the discerning, [skillful and godly] wisdom is found,
But discipline and the rod are for the back of the one who is without common sense and understanding.

Those who are wise lay up knowledge, but [to] the mouth of the fool, ruin draws near.

The rich hide within the fortress that is their wealth, but the poor are dismayed due to their poverty.

He who learns from instruction and correction is on the [right] path of life [and for others his example is a path toward wisdom and blessing],
But he who ignores and refuses correction goes off course [and for others his example is a path toward sin and ruin].

When there are many words, sin is unavoidable,
but the one who controls his lips is wise.

The tongue of the righteous is like precious silver (greatly valued);
The heart of the wicked is worth little.

The thing that the ungodly are afraid of, shall come upon them; but the righteous shall have their desire.

When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more,
But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.

The fear of Jehovah addeth days, And the years of the wicked are shortened.

The hope of the righteous [those of honorable character and integrity] is joy,
But the expectation of the wicked [those who oppose God and ignore His wisdom] comes to nothing.

The lips of the upright man have knowledge of what is pleasing, but twisted are the mouths of evil-doers.

Balances of deceit are an abomination to Jehovah, And a perfect weight is His delight.

When pride comes [boiling up with an arrogant attitude of self-importance], then come dishonor and shame,
But with the humble [the teachable who have been chiseled by trial and who have learned to walk humbly with God] there is wisdom and soundness of mind.

The righteousness of the upright delivereth them; but the treacherous are taken in their own craving.

With his mouth a hypocrite destroyeth his neighbour; but through knowledge are the righteous delivered.

When it goes well for the righteous, the city rejoices,
And when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.

When the upright are blessed, exalted is the city, but, by the mouth of the lawless, it is overthrown.