Septuagint Bible w/ Apocrypha LXX
New International Version NIV
1 son, attend to my wisdom, and apply thine ear to my words;
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My son, pay attention to my wisdom, turn your ear to my words of insight,
2 that thou mayest keep good understanding, and the discretion of my lips gives thee a charge. Give no heed to a worthless woman;
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that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.
3 for honey drops from the lips of a harlot, who for a season pleases thy palate:
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For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil;
4 but afterwards thou wilt find her more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword.
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but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 For the feet of folly lead those who deal with her down to the grave with death; and her steps are not established.
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Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave.
6 For she goes not upon the paths of life; but her ways are slippery, and not easily known.
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She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.
7 Now then, son, hear me, and make not my words of none effect.
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Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say.
8 Remove thy way far from her; draw not near to the doors of her house:
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Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house,
9 lest thou give away thy life to others, and thy substance to the merciless:
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lest you lose your honor to others and your dignity to one who is cruel,
10 lest strangers be filled with thy strength, and thy labours come into the houses of strangers;
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lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich the house of another.
11 And thou repent at last, when the flesh of thy body is consumed,
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At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent.
12 and thou shalt say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart avoided reproofs!
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You will say, “How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction!
13 I heard not the voice of him that instructed me, and taught me, neither did I apply mine ear.
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I would not obey my teachers or turn my ear to my instructors.
14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
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And I was soon in serious trouble in the assembly of God’s people.”
15 Drink waters out of thine own vessels, and out of thine own springing wells.
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Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.
16 Let not waters out of thy fountain be spilt by thee, but let thy waters go into thy streets.
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Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be only thine own, and let no stranger partake with thee.
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Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.
18 Let thy fountain of water be thine own; and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
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May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 Let loving hart and thy graceful colt company with thee, and let her be considered thine own, and be with thee at all times; for ravished with her love thou shalt be greatly increased.
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A loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
20 Be not intimate with a strange woman, neither fold thyself in the arms of a woman not thine own.
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Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife? Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?
21 For the ways of a man are before the eyes of God, and he looks on all his paths.
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For your ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all your paths.
22 Iniquities ensnare a man, and every one is bound in the chains of his own sins.
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The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast.
23 Such a man dies with the uninstructed; and he is cast forth from the abundance of his own substance, and has perished through folly.
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For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly.
The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.
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.