| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding, | 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen carefully to my wise counsel. |
| 2that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. | 2Then you will show discernment, and your lips will express what you’ve learned. |
| 3For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, | 3For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth 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 poison, as dangerous as a double-edged sword. |
| 5Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; | 5Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. |
| 6she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. | 6For she cares nothing about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it. |
| 7And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. | 7So now, my sons, listen to me. Never stray from what I am about to say: |
| 8Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house, | 8Stay away from her! Don’t go near the door of her house! |
| 9lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless, | 9If you do, you will lose your honor and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved. |
| 10lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner, | 10Strangers will consume your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor. |
| 11and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed, | 11In the end you will groan in anguish when disease consumes your body. |
| 12and you say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! | 12You will say, “How I hated discipline! If only I had not ignored all the warnings! |
| 13I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors. | 13Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors? |
| 14I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.” | 14I have come to the brink of utter ruin, and now I must face public disgrace.” |
| 15Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. | 15Drink water from your own well— share your love only with your wife. |
| 16Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets? | 16Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone? |
| 17Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you. | 17You should reserve it for yourselves. Never share it with strangers. |
| 18Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, | 18Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. |
| 19a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love. | 19She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love. |
| 20Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? | 20Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman, or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman? |
| 21For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his paths. | 21For the LORD sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. |
| 22The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. | 22An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. |
| 23He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray. | 23He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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