Lexham English Bible LEB
New International Version NIV
1 My child, guard my sayings; store my commandments with you.
1
My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you.
2 Keep my commands and live, and my teaching like [the] {apple of your eye}.
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Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
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Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, "you are my sister," and you shall call insight, "{intimate friend}."
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Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and to insight, “You are my relative.”
5 [In order] to guard yourself from {an adulteress}, from the foreigner who {makes her words smooth}.
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They will keep you from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words.
6 For at the window of my house, through my lattice, I looked down.
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At the window of my house I looked down through the lattice.
7 And I saw among the simple, I observed among the youth, a young man lacking {sense},
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I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who had no sense.
8 passing on the street {at} her corner, and he takes the road [to] her house,
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He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house
9 at twilight, at [the] day's evening, in [the] midst of night and the darkness.
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at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in.
10 Then behold! A woman [comes] to meet him [with the] garment of a prostitute and {a secret heart}.
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Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
11 She is loud and stubborn; her feet do not stay at her house.
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(She is unruly and defiant, her feet never stay at home;
12 Now in the street, now in the square, {at} every corner she lies in wait.
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now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks.)
13 She took hold of him and kissed him. Her face was impudent, and she said to him,
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She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said:
14 "Sacrifices of peace offerings [are] upon me; {today} I completed my vows.
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“Today I fulfilled my vows, and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.
15 So I have come out to meet you, to seek your face, and I have found you.
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So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you!
16 [With] coverings I have adorned my couch, spreads of the linen of Egypt;
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I have covered my bed with colored linens from Egypt.
17 I have perfumed my bed [with] myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
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I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take [our] fill of love making, until the morning let us delight in love.
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Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning; let’s enjoy ourselves with love!
19 For there is no man in his home; he has gone on a {long journey}.
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My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey.
20 The bag of money he took in his hand, for [on] the day of the full moon he will come home."
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He took his purse filled with money and will not be home till full moon.”
21 She persuades him with the greatness of her teachings; with her smooth lips she compels him.
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With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk.
22 He goes after her suddenly; like an ox to the slaughter he goes, and like a stag to the instruction of a fool,
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All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose
23 until an arrow pierces his {entrails}, like a bird rushing into a snare, but he does not know that {it will cost him his life}.
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till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life.
24 And now, my children, listen to me, and be attentive to the sayings of my mouth.
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Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say.
25 May your heart not turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her path.
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Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths.
26 For many slain she has laid low, and countless [are] all of her killings.
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Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng.
27 The ways of Sheol [are] her house, descending to chambers of death.
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Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.