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New International Version (NIV) |
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1 My son, be attentive to my wisdom, incline your ear to my understanding;
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1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight,
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2 that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge.
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2 that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.
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3 For the lips of a loose woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil;
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3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil;
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4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
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4 but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword.
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5 Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol;
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5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave.
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6 she does not take heed to the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it.
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6 She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.
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7 And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
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7 Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say.
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8 Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house;
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8 Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house,
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9 lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless;
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9 lest you give your best strength to others and your years to one who is cruel,
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10 lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of an alien;
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10 lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich another man's house.
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11 and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed,
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11 At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent.
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12 and you say, "How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!
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12 You will say, "How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction!
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13 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.
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13 I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors.
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14 I was at the point of utter ruin in the assembled congregation."
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14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly."
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15 Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.
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15 Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.
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16 Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets?
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16 Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?
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17 Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you.
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17 Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.
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18 Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
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18 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
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19 a lovely hind, a graceful doe. Let her affection fill you at all times with delight, be infatuated always with her love.
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19 A loving doe, a graceful deer-- may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love.
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20 Why should you be infatuated, my son, with a loose woman and embrace the bosom of an adventuress?
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20 Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man's wife?
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21 For a man's ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he watches all his paths.
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21 For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths.
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22 The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is caught in the toils of his sin.
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22 The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast.
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23 He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is lost.
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23 He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.
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| Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (Revised Standard Version - Holy Bible) |
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |
