| English Standard Version | New International Version |
| 1My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding, | 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom, turn your ear to my words of insight, |
| 2that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. | 2that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge. |
| 3For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, | 3For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; |
| 4but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. | 4but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. |
| 5Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; | 5Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. |
| 6she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. | 6She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it. |
| 7And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. | 7Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say. |
| 8Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house, | 8Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house, |
| 9lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless, | 9lest you lose your honor to others and your dignity to one who is cruel, |
| 10lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner, | 10lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich the house of another. |
| 11and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed, | 11At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent. |
| 12and you say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! | 12You will say, "How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! |
| 13I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors. | 13I would not obey my teachers or turn my ear to my instructors. |
| 14I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.” | 14And I was soon in serious trouble in the assembly of God's people." |
| 15Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. | 15Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. |
| 16Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets? | 16Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? |
| 17Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you. | 17Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. |
| 18Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, | 18May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. |
| 19a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love. | 19A loving doe, a graceful deer-- may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love. |
| 20Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? | 20Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man's wife? Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman? |
| 21For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his paths. | 21For your ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all your paths. |
| 22The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. | 22The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast. |
| 23He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray. | 23For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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