^7 (N)Now then, my sons, listen to me
And ^(O)do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
^8 (P)Keep your way far from her,
And do not go near the ^(Q)door of her house,
⁹ Otherwise you will give your vigor to others,
And your years to the cruel one;
¹⁰ And strangers will be filled with your strength,
And your hard-earned possessions will go to the house of a foreigner;
¹¹ And you will groan ^[d]in ^[e]the end,
When your flesh and your body are consumed;
¹² And you say, “How I ^(R)hated instruction!
And my heart ^(S)disdainfully rejected rebuke!
¹³ I did not listen to the voice of my ^(T)teachers,
Nor incline my ear to my instructors!
¹⁴ I was almost in total ruin
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern,
And ^[f]fresh water from your own well.
¹⁶ Should your ^(U)springs overflow into the street,
Streams of water in the public squares?
¹⁷ Let them be yours alone,
And not for strangers with you.
¹⁸ Let your ^(V)fountain be blessed,
And ^(W)rejoice in the ^(X)wife of your youth.
¹⁹ Like a loving ^(Y)doe and a graceful mountain goat,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be ^[g]exhilarated always with her love.
²⁰ For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an ^[h](Z)adulteress,
And embrace the breasts of a ^(AA)foreigner?
²¹ For the ^(AB)ways of everyone are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He ^(AC)observes all his paths.
²² His ^(AD)own wrongdoings will trap the wicked,
And he will be held by the ropes of his sin.
²³ He will ^(AE)die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his foolishness he will go astray.