בְּנִי לְחָכְמָתִי הַקְשִׁיבָה לִתְבוּנָתִי הַט אָזְנֶךָ

My son, listen to my wisdom, which was acquired through life experience; incline your ear to my sagacity,

לִשְׁמֹר מְזִמּוֹת ודַעַת שְׂפָתֶיךָ יִנְצֹרוּ

in order to maintain prudence and have your lips conserve knowledge, so that you will guard your speech and speak only intelligent statements.

כִּי נֹפֶת תִּטֹּפְנָה שִׂפְתֵי זָרָה וְחָלָק מִשֶּׁמֶן חִכָּהּ

For the lips of a strange woman, who seeks to entrap you, drip honey, sweet, pleasant words of seduction, and her palate is smoother than oil,

וְאַחֲרִיתָהּ מָרָה כַלַּעֲנָה חַדָּה כְּחֶרֶב פִּיּוֹת

but although her initial comments are smooth, flattering, and sweet, her end is bitter as wormwood, and in contrast to her smooth talk, it is sharp as a double-edged sword.

רַגְלֶיהָ יֹרְדוֹת מָוֶת שְׁאוֹל צְעָדֶיהָ יִתְמֹכוּ

Her feet go down to death. She walks toward death, or, alternatively, her end is death; to the grave her steps are directed. If you submit to temptation and accompany her, she will take you there with her.

אֹרַח חַיִּים פֶּן־תְּפַלֵּס נָעוּ מַעְגְּלֹתֶיהָ לֹא תֵדָע

Be careful lest you mark out a path of life that you think is quick and easy but is actually dangerous. Her tracks wander; you will not know. Due to your limited life experience, you might think that the road to the strange woman’s house and back again is fast and easy, but what appears to you as a short detour is really a dangerous path. The ways of this seemingly smooth reality are actually twisted and tangled.

וְעַתָּה בָנִים שִׁמְעוּ־לִי וְאַל־תָּסוּרוּ מֵאִמְרֵי־פִי

Now, children, listen to me, and do not depart from the sayings of my mouth.

הַרְחֵק מֵעָלֶיהָ דַרְכֶּךָ וְאַל־תִּקְרַב אֶל־פֶּתַח בֵּיתָהּ

Distance your way from her, this woman, and do not go near the entrance of her house. This refers to a married woman who seeks out young men, sometimes only for a short adventure and at other times for a deeper connection. The man who is seduced by her finds himself in all sorts of trouble.

פֶּן־תִּתֵּן לַאֲחֵרִים הוֹדֶךָ וּשְׁנֹתֶךָ לְאַכְזָרִי

Beware, lest you give away your glory, your splendor and possessions, to others. You might lend the woman money, bestow gifts upon her, or invest energy in her. Be careful, lest she take everything from you, and lest you give your years to the cruel. If she takes advantage of you, you might waste all your days in pursuit of her.

פֶּן יִשְׂבְּעוּ זָרִים כֹּחֶךָ וַעֲצָבֶיךָ בְּבֵית נָכְרִי

Lest strangers eat and be sated with your strength, all that you have, and your toils, the property for which you labored, be in the house of a stranger. Ultimately, you will find that behind this woman lies an entire network that is extorting money from you.

וְנָהַמְתָּ בְאַחֲרִיתֶךָ בִּכְלוֹת בְּשָׂרְךָ וּשְׁאֵרֶךָ

You will moan at your end, as you will grow angry and cry out in pain with the demise of your flesh and your body, which is the eventual result of this process.

וְאָמַרְתָּ אֵיךְ שָׂנֵאתִי מוּסָר וְתוֹכַחַת נָאַץ לִבִּי

You will say: How is it that I hated admonition and my heart spurned rebuke,

וְלֹא־שָׁמַעְתִּי בְּקוֹל מוֹרָי וְלִמְלַמְּדַי לֹא־הִטִּיתִי אָזְנִי

and I did not heed the voice of my instructors, and to my teachers I did not incline my ear?

כִּמְעַט הָיִיתִי בְכָל־רָע בְּתוֹךְ קָהָל וְעֵדָה

As a result of my actions, I was on the verge of complete degradation in the midst of a congregation and assembly, society and its judges.

שְׁתֵה־מַיִם מִבּוֹרֶךָ וְנוֹזְלִים מִתּוֹךְ בְּאֵרֶךָ

Drink water from your own cistern, and draw fluids from your own well. If you seek intimacy, turn to your own wife, not to a different woman.

יָפוּצוּ מַעְיְנֹתֶיךָ חוּצָה בָּרְחוֹבֹת פַּלְגֵי־מָיִם

Rather than going to other water sources, may your own springs, your blessings, be dispersed abroad, and let streams of water flow in the open squares, so that the earth will be saturated and sprout forth its bounty. Thus you will be a flowing source of blessings.

יִהְיוּ לְךָ לְבַדֶּךָ וְאֵין לְזָרִים אִתָּךְ

They, the waters, will be your own, and there will be nothing for strangers with you. Preserve that which you have: Your home and your life.

יְהִי־מְקוֹרְךָ בָרוּךְ וּשְׂמַח מֵאֵשֶׁת נְעוּרֶיךָ

May your fount be blessed, and may you rejoice from the wife of your youth.

אַיֶּלֶת אֲהָבִים וְיַעֲלַת חֵן דַּדֶּיהָ יְרַוֻּךָ בְכָל־עֵת בְּאַהֲבָתָהּ תִּשְׁגֶּה תָמִיד

Your wife is a lovely doe and a graceful ibex, so let her breasts satisfy you at any time; in her love you will always be intoxicated, so that you contemplate and think of her at all times.

וְלָמָּה תִשְׁגֶּה בְנִי בְזָרָה וּתְחַבֵּק חֵק נָכְרִיָּה

You have a beautiful, loving wife, who provides you with all your physical and spiritual needs. Why would you be intoxicated, my son, by a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

כִּי נֹכַח עֵינֵי דַּרְכֵי־אִישׁ וְכָל־מַעְגְּלֹתָיו מְפַלֵּס

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord; God observes all man’s actions, and He smooths all his tracks, his ways of life.

עֲווֹנוֹתָיו יִלְכְּדֻנוֹ אֶת־הָרָשָׁע וּבְחַבְלֵי חַטָּאתוֹ יִתָּמֵךְ

His own iniquities will trap him, the wicked one, and he will be caught, become entwined, in the ropes of his own sin. There is no need for external punishments, as man fashions his own traps.

הוּא יָמוּת בְּאֵין מוּסָר וּבְרֹב אִוַּלְתּוֹ יִשְׁגֶּה

He will die for lack of admonishment, and in his abundant foolishness he will err. The young person to whom these warnings are directed views himself as his own master. Wandering the streets of the city, he may encounter the strange woman either at her initiative or at his own. These verses explain to him that the other woman, to whom men are naturally attracted, is nothing but a beautiful illusion, who will ultimately lead him to physical and spiritual destruction. As explained above, on the symbolic level the temptress represents foreign ideologies. The message here is that you have the Torah that is yours; why do you turn to other systems of thought or religions? If you allow yourself to be seduced into following them, you will ultimately lose out, become trapped, and destroyed.