| New King James Version | International Standard Version |
| 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding, | 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom, and listen closely to my insight, |
| 2That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge. | 2so you may carefully practice discretion and your lips preserve knowledge. |
| 3For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil; | 3For the lips of an adulteress 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 as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a double-edged sword. |
| 5Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell. | 5Her feet go down to death; her steps lead to Sheol. |
| 6Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do not know them. | 6You aren't thinking about where her life is headed; her steps wander, but you do not realize it. |
| 7Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth. | 7Now, children, listen to me. Don't turn away from what I am saying. |
| 8Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house, | 8Keep far away from her, and don't go near the entrance to her house, |
| 9Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one; | 9so that you don't give your honor to others, and waste your best years; |
| 10Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner; | 10so that strangers don't enrich themselves at your expense, and your work won't end up the possession of foreigners. |
| 11And you mourn at last, When your flesh and your body are consumed, | 11You will cry out in anguish when your end comes, when your flesh and body are consumed, |
| 12And say: “How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction! | 12and you will say, "How I hated instruction, and my heart rejected correction! |
| 13I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me! | 13I did not obey my teachers and did not listen to my instructors. |
| 14I was on the verge of total ruin, In the midst of the assembly and congregation.” | 14Now I am at the point of utter disaster in the assembly and in the congregation." |
| 15Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well. | 15Drink water from your own cistern, and fresh water from your own well. |
| 16Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets? | 16Should your springs flow outside, or streams of water in the street? |
| 17Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you. | 17They should be for you alone and not for strangers who are with you. |
| 18Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth. | 18Let your fountain be blessed and enjoy the wife of your youth. |
| 19As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love. | 19Like a loving deer, a beautiful doe, let her breasts satisfy you all the time. Be constantly intoxicated by her love. |
| 20For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a seductress? | 20Why should you be intoxicated by an adulteress, my son, and embrace the bosom of a foreign woman? |
| 21For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He ponders all his paths. | 21Indeed, what a man does is always in the LORD's presence, and he weighs all his paths. |
| 22His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin. | 22The wicked person's iniquities will capture him, and he will be held with the cords of his sin. |
| 23He shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray. | 23He will die for lack of discipline, and he goes astray because of his great folly. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
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