| New International Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom, turn your ear to my words of insight, | 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen closely to my understanding |
| 2that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge. | 2so that you may maintain discretion and your lips safeguard knowledge. |
| 3For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; | 3Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her words are smoother than oil, |
| 4but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-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 lead straight to the grave. | 5Her feet go down to death; her steps head straight for Sheol. |
| 6She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths wander aimlessly, but 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; do not turn aside from what I say. | 7So now, my sons, listen to me, and don't turn away from the words of my mouth. |
| 8Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house, | 8Keep your way far from her. Don't go near the door of her house. |
| 9lest you lose your honor to others and your dignity to one who is cruel, | 9Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others and your years to someone cruel; |
| 10lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich the house of another. | 10strangers will drain your resources, and your earnings will end up in a foreigner's house. |
| 11At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent. | 11At the end of your life, you will lament when your physical body has been consumed, |
| 12You will say, "How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! | 12and you will say, "How I hated discipline, and how my heart despised correction. |
| 13I would not obey my teachers or turn my ear to my instructors. | 13I didn't obey my teachers or listen closely to my mentors. |
| 14And I was soon in serious trouble in the assembly of God's people." | 14I am on the verge of complete ruin before the entire community." |
| 15Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. | 15Drink water from your own cistern, water flowing from your own well. |
| 16Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? | 16Should your springs flow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares? |
| 17Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. | 17They should be for you alone and not for you to share with strangers. |
| 18May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. | 18Let your fountain be blessed, and take pleasure in the wife of your youth. |
| 19A loving doe, a graceful deer-- may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love. | 19A loving doe, a graceful fawn-- let her breasts always satisfy you; be lost in her love forever. |
| 20Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man's wife? Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman? | 20Why, my son, would you be infatuated with a forbidden woman or embrace the breast of a stranger? |
| 21For your ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all your paths. | 21For a man's ways are before the LORD's eyes, and He considers all his paths. |
| 22The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast. | 22A wicked man's iniquities entrap him; he is entangled in the ropes of his own sin. |
| 23For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly. | 23He will die because there is no discipline, and be lost because of his great stupidity. |
| 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. | Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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