Study Desk

My son, ^(C1)pay attention to my wisdom, ^(C2)Incline your ear to my understanding,

So that you may ^(C1)maintain discretion And your ^(C2)lips may comply with knowledge.

For the lips of an ^(F1)(C1)adulteress ^(C2)drip honey, And her ^(F2)speech is ^(C3)smoother than oil;

But in the end she is ^(C1)bitter as wormwood, ^(C2)Sharp as a two-edged sword.

Her feet ^(C1)go down to death, Her steps take hold of Sheol.

^(F1)She does not ponder the ^(C1)path of life; Her ways are ^(C2)unstable, she ^(C3)does not know it.

^(C1)Now then, my sons, listen to me And ^(C2)do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

^(C1)Keep your way far from her, And do not go near the ^(C2)door of her house,

Otherwise you will give your vigor to others, And your years to the cruel one;

And strangers will be filled with your strength, And your hard-earned possessions will go to the house of a foreigner;

And you will groan ^(F1)in ^(F2)the end, When your flesh and your body are consumed;

And you say, "How I ^(C1)hated instruction! And my heart ^(C2)disdainfully rejected rebuke!

-"I did not listen to the voice of my ^(C1)teachers, Nor incline my ear to my instructors!

-"I was almost in total ruin In the midst of the assembly and congregation."

Drink water from your own cistern, And ^(F1)fresh water from your own well.

Should your ^(C1)springs overflow into the street, Streams of water in the public squares?

Let them be yours alone, And not for strangers with you.

Let your ^(C1)fountain be blessed, And ^(C2)rejoice in the ^(C3)wife of your youth.

Like a loving ^(C1)doe and a graceful mountain goat, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be ^(F1)exhilarated always with her love.

For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an ^(F1)(C1)adulteress, And embrace the breasts of a ^(C2)foreigner?

For the ^(C1)ways of everyone are before the eyes of the LORD, And He ^(C2)observes all his paths.

His ^(C1)own wrongdoings will trap the wicked, And he will be held by the ropes of his sin.

He will ^(C1)die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his foolishness he will go astray.