| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1My child, be attentive to my wisdom, pay close attention to my understanding, | 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen carefully to my wise counsel. |
| 2in order to safeguard discretion, and that your lips may guard knowledge. | 2Then you will show discernment, and your lips will express what you’ve learned. |
| 3For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her seductive words are smoother than olive 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 lead straight to the grave. | 5Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. |
| 6Lest she should make level the path leading to life, her paths are unstable but 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. |
| 7So now, children, listen to me; do not turn aside from the words I speak. | 7So now, my sons, listen to me. Never stray from what I am about to say: |
| 8Keep yourself 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 vigor to others and your years to a cruel person, | 9If you do, you will lose your honor and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved. |
| 10lest strangers devour your strength, and your labor benefit another man's house. | 10Strangers will consume your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor. |
| 11And at the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are wasted away. | 11In the end you will groan in anguish when disease consumes your body. |
| 12And you will say, "How I hated discipline! My heart spurned reproof! | 12You will say, “How I hated discipline! If only I had not ignored all the warnings! |
| 13For I did not obey my teachers and I did not heed my instructors. | 13Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors? |
| 14I almost came to complete ruin in the midst of the whole congregation!" | 14I have come to the brink of utter ruin, and now I must face public disgrace.” |
| 15Drink water from your own cistern and running water from your own well. | 15Drink water from your own well— share your love only with your wife. |
| 16Should your springs be dispersed outside, your streams of water in the wide plazas? | 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. |
| 18May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in your young wife-- | 18Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. |
| 19a loving doe, a graceful deer; may her breasts satisfy you at all times, may you be captivated by her love always. | 19She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love. |
| 20But why should you be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, and embrace the bosom of a different woman? | 20Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman, or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman? |
| 21For the ways of a person are in front of the LORD's eyes, and the LORD weighs all that person's paths. | 21For the LORD sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. |
| 22The wicked will be captured by his own iniquities, and he will be held by the cords of his own sin. | 22An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. |
| 23He will die because there was no discipline; because of the greatness of his folly he will reel. | 23He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness. |
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