16  So ^pyou will be delivered from the forbidden¹ woman,

from ^qthe adulteress² with ^rher smooth words,

17  who forsakes ^sthe companion of her youth

and forgets ^tthe covenant of her God;

18  ^ufor her house sinks down to death,

and her paths to the departed;³

19  none who go to her come back,

nor do they regain the paths of life.

20  So you will walk in the way of the good

and keep to the paths of the righteous.