| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding, | 1My child, be attentive to my wisdom, pay close attention to my understanding, |
| 2That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge. | 2in order to safeguard discretion, and that your lips may guard knowledge. |
| 3For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil; | 3For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her seductive words are smoother than olive oil, |
| 4But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. | 4but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. |
| 5Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell. | 5Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. |
| 6Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do not know them. | 6Lest she should make level the path leading to life, her paths are unstable but she does not know it. |
| 7Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth. | 7So now, children, listen to me; do not turn aside from the words I speak. |
| 8Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house, | 8Keep yourself far from her, and do not go near the door of her house, |
| 9Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one; | 9lest you give your vigor to others and your years to a cruel person, |
| 10Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner; | 10lest strangers devour your strength, and your labor benefit another man's house. |
| 11And you mourn at last, When your flesh and your body are consumed, | 11And at the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are wasted away. |
| 12And say: “How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction! | 12And you will say, "How I hated discipline! My heart spurned reproof! |
| 13I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me! | 13For I did not obey my teachers and I did not heed my instructors. |
| 14I was on the verge of total ruin, In the midst of the assembly and congregation.” | 14I almost came to complete ruin in the midst of the whole congregation!" |
| 15Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well. | 15Drink water from your own cistern and running water from your own well. |
| 16Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets? | 16Should your springs be dispersed outside, your streams of water in the wide plazas? |
| 17Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you. | 17Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you. |
| 18Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth. | 18May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in your young wife-- |
| 19As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love. | 19a loving doe, a graceful deer; may her breasts satisfy you at all times, may you be captivated by her love always. |
| 20For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a seductress? | 20But why should you be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, and embrace the bosom of a different woman? |
| 21For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He ponders all his paths. | 21For the ways of a person are in front of the LORD's eyes, and the LORD weighs all that person's paths. |
| 22His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin. | 22The wicked will be captured by his own iniquities, and he will be held by the cords of his own sin. |
| 23He shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray. | 23He will die because there was no discipline; because of the greatness of his folly he will reel. |
|
