| Holman Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen closely to my understanding | 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen carefully to my wise counsel. |
| 2so that you may maintain discretion and your lips safeguard knowledge. | 2Then you will show discernment, and your lips will express what you’ve learned. |
| 3Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her words are smoother than oil, | 3For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. |
| 4in the end she's as bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a double-edged sword. | 4But in the end she is as bitter as poison, as dangerous as a double-edged sword. |
| 5Her feet go down to death; her steps head straight for Sheol. | 5Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. |
| 6She doesn't consider the path of life; she doesn't know that her ways are unstable. | 6For she cares nothing about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it. |
| 7So now, my sons, listen to me, and don't turn away from the words of my mouth. | 7So now, my sons, listen to me. Never stray from what I am about to say: |
| 8Keep your way far from her. Don't go near the door of her house. | 8Stay away from her! Don’t go near the door of her house! |
| 9Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others and your years to someone cruel; | 9If you do, you will lose your honor and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved. |
| 10strangers will drain your resources, and your earnings will end up in a foreigner's house. | 10Strangers will consume your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor. |
| 11At the end of your life, you will lament when your physical body has been consumed, | 11In the end you will groan in anguish when disease consumes your body. |
| 12and you will say, "How I hated discipline, and how my heart despised correction. | 12You will say, “How I hated discipline! If only I had not ignored all the warnings! |
| 13I didn't obey my teachers or listen closely to my mentors. | 13Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors? |
| 14I am on the verge of complete ruin before the entire community." | 14I have come to the brink of utter ruin, and now I must face public disgrace.” |
| 15Drink water from your own cistern, water flowing from your own well. | 15Drink water from your own well— share your love only with your wife. |
| 16Should your springs flow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares? | 16Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone? |
| 17They should be for you alone and not for you to share with strangers. | 17You should reserve it for yourselves. Never share it with strangers. |
| 18Let your fountain be blessed, and take pleasure in the wife of your youth. | 18Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. |
| 19A loving doe, a graceful fawn-- let her breasts always satisfy you; be lost in her love forever. | 19She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love. |
| 20Why, my son, would you be infatuated with a forbidden woman or embrace the breast of a stranger? | 20Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman, or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman? |
| 21For a man's ways are before the LORD's eyes, and He considers all his paths. | 21For the LORD sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. |
| 22A wicked man's iniquities entrap him; he is entangled in the ropes of his own sin. | 22An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. |
| 23He will die because there is no discipline, and be lost because of his great stupidity. | 23He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness. |
| Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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