| New King James Version | New International Version |
| 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding, | 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom, turn your ear to my words of insight, |
| 2That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge. | 2that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve 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 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 bitter as gall, 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 straight to the grave. |
| 6Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do not know them. | 6She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it. |
| 7Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth. | 7Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say. |
| 8Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house, | 8Keep to a path far from her, 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 lose your honor to others and your dignity to one who is cruel, |
| 10Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner; | 10lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich the house of another. |
| 11And you mourn at last, When your flesh and your body are consumed, | 11At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent. |
| 12And say: “How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction! | 12You will say, "How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! |
| 13I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me! | 13I would not obey my teachers or turn my ear to my instructors. |
| 14I was on the verge of total ruin, In the midst of the assembly and congregation.” | 14And I was soon in serious trouble in the assembly of God's people." |
| 15Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well. | 15Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. |
| 16Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets? | 16Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? |
| 17Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you. | 17Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. |
| 18Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth. | 18May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in 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. | 19A loving doe, a graceful deer-- may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love. |
| 20For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a seductress? | 20Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man's wife? Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman? |
| 21For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He ponders all his paths. | 21For your ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all your paths. |
| 22His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin. | 22The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast. |
| 23He shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray. | 23For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | 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. |
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