| New American Standard Bible 1995 | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1My son, give attention to my wisdom, Incline your ear to my understanding; | 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen closely to my understanding |
| 2That you may observe discretion And your lips may reserve knowledge. | 2so that you may maintain discretion and your lips safeguard knowledge. |
| 3For the lips of an adulteress drip honey And smoother than oil is her speech; | 3Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her words are smoother than oil, |
| 4But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. | 4in the end she's as bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a double-edged sword. |
| 5Her feet go down to death, Her steps take hold of Sheol. | 5Her feet go down to death; her steps head straight for Sheol. |
| 6She does not ponder the path of life; Her ways are unstable, she does not know it. | 6She doesn't consider the path of life; she doesn't know that her ways are unstable. |
| 7Now then, my sons, listen to me And do not depart from the words of my mouth. | 7So now, my sons, listen to me, and don't turn away from the words of my mouth. |
| 8Keep your way far from her And do not go near the door of her house, | 8Keep your way far from her. Don't go near the door of her house. |
| 9Or you will give your vigor to others And your years to the cruel one; | 9Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others and your years to someone cruel; |
| 10And strangers will be filled with your strength And your hard-earned goods will go to the house of an alien; | 10strangers will drain your resources, and your earnings will end up in a foreigner's house. |
| 11And you groan at your final end, When your flesh and your body are consumed; | 11At the end of your life, you will lament when your physical body has been consumed, |
| 12And you say, "How I have hated instruction! And my heart spurned reproof! | 12and you will say, "How I hated discipline, and how my heart despised correction. |
| 13"I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to my instructors! | 13I didn't obey my teachers or listen closely to my mentors. |
| 14"I was almost in utter ruin In the midst of the assembly and congregation." | 14I am on the verge of complete ruin before the entire community." |
| 15Drink water from your own cistern And fresh water from your own well. | 15Drink water from your own cistern, water flowing from your own well. |
| 16Should your springs be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets? | 16Should your springs flow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares? |
| 17Let them be yours alone And not for strangers with you. | 17They should be for you alone and not for you to share with strangers. |
| 18Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth. | 18Let your fountain be blessed, and take pleasure in the wife of your youth. |
| 19As a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love. | 19A loving doe, a graceful fawn-- let her breasts always satisfy you; be lost in her love forever. |
| 20For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress And embrace the bosom of a foreigner? | 20Why, my son, would you be infatuated with a forbidden woman or embrace the breast of a stranger? |
| 21For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He watches all his paths. | 21For a man's ways are before the LORD's eyes, and He considers all his paths. |
| 22His own iniquities will capture the wicked, And he will be held with the cords of his sin. | 22A wicked man's iniquities entrap him; he is entangled in the ropes of his own sin. |
| 23He will die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray. | 23He will die because there is no discipline, and be lost because of his great stupidity. |
| New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org | Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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