| International Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom, and listen closely to my insight, | 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen carefully to my wise counsel. |
| 2so you may carefully practice discretion and your lips preserve knowledge. | 2Then you will show discernment, and your lips will express what you’ve learned. |
| 3For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil. | 3For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. |
| 4But in the end she is 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 lead to Sheol. | 5Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. |
| 6You aren't thinking about where her life is headed; her steps wander, but you do not realize it. | 6For she cares nothing about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it. |
| 7Now, children, listen to me. Don't turn away from what I am saying. | 7So now, my sons, listen to me. Never stray from what I am about to say: |
| 8Keep far away from her, and don't go near the entrance to her house, | 8Stay away from her! Don’t go near the door of her house! |
| 9so that you don't give your honor to others, and waste your best years; | 9If you do, you will lose your honor and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved. |
| 10so that strangers don't enrich themselves at your expense, and your work won't end up the possession of foreigners. | 10Strangers will consume your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor. |
| 11You will cry out in anguish when your end comes, when your flesh and body are consumed, | 11In the end you will groan in anguish when disease consumes your body. |
| 12and you will say, "How I hated instruction, and my heart rejected correction! | 12You will say, “How I hated discipline! If only I had not ignored all the warnings! |
| 13I did not obey my teachers and did not listen to my instructors. | 13Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors? |
| 14Now I am at the point of utter disaster in the assembly and in the congregation." | 14I have come to the brink of utter ruin, and now I must face public disgrace.” |
| 15Drink water from your own cistern, and fresh water from your own well. | 15Drink water from your own well— share your love only with your wife. |
| 16Should your springs flow outside, or streams of water in the street? | 16Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone? |
| 17They should be for you alone and not for strangers who are with you. | 17You should reserve it for yourselves. Never share it with strangers. |
| 18Let your fountain be blessed and enjoy the wife of your youth. | 18Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. |
| 19Like a loving deer, a beautiful doe, let her breasts satisfy you all the time. Be constantly intoxicated by her love. | 19She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love. |
| 20Why should you be intoxicated by an adulteress, my son, and embrace the bosom of a foreign woman? | 20Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman, or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman? |
| 21Indeed, what a man does is always in the LORD's presence, and he weighs all his paths. | 21For the LORD sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. |
| 22The wicked person's iniquities will capture him, and he will be held with the cords of his sin. | 22An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. |
| 23He will die for lack of discipline, and he goes astray because of his great folly. | 23He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | 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. |
|
