| New King James Version | King James Bible |
| 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding, | 1My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: |
| 2That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge. | 2That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. |
| 3For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil; | 3For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: |
| 4But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. | 4But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. |
| 5Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell. | 5Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. |
| 6Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do not know them. | 6Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. |
| 7Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth. | 7Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. |
| 8Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house, | 8Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: |
| 9Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one; | 9Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: |
| 10Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner; | 10Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; |
| 11And you mourn at last, When your flesh and your body are consumed, | 11And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, |
| 12And say: “How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction! | 12And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; |
| 13I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me! | 13And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! |
| 14I was on the verge of total ruin, In the midst of the assembly and congregation.” | 14I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. |
| 15Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well. | 15Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. |
| 16Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets? | 16Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. |
| 17Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you. | 17Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee. |
| 18Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth. | 18Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. |
| 19As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love. | 19Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. |
| 20For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a seductress? | 20And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? |
| 21For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He ponders all his paths. | 21For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings. |
| 22His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin. | 22His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. |
| 23He shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray. | 23He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. |
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