1-2. Dear friend, pay close attention to this, my wisdom;listen very closely to the way I see it.Then you’ll acquire a taste for good sense;what I tell you will keep you out of trouble.
15-16. Do you know the saying, “Drink from your own rain barrel,draw water from your own spring-fed well”?It’s true. Otherwise, you may one day come homeand find your barrel empty and your well polluted.
17-20. Your spring water is for you and you only,not to be passed around among strangers.Bless your fresh-flowing fountain!Enjoy the wife you married as a young man!Lovely as an angel, beautiful as a rose—don’t ever quit taking delight in her body.Never take her love for granted!Why would you trade enduring intimacies for cheap thrills with a whore?for dalliance with a promiscuous stranger?
21-23. Mark well that God doesn’t miss a move you make;he’s aware of every step you take.The shadow of your sin will overtake you;you’ll find yourself stumbling all over yourself in the dark.Death is the reward of an undisciplined life;your foolish decisions trap you in a dead end.