American Standard Version ASV
Holman Christian Standard Bible CSB
1 My son, attend unto my wisdom; Incline thine ear to my understanding:
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My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen closely to my understanding
2 That thou mayest preserve discretion, And that thy lips may keep knowledge.
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so that [you] may maintain discretion and your lips safeguard knowledge.
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil:
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Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her words are smoother than oil,
4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
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in the end she's as bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold on Sheol;
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Her feet go down to death; her steps head straight for Sheol.
6 So that she findeth not the level path of life: Her ways are unstable, [and] she knoweth [it] not.
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She doesn't consider the path of life; she doesn't know that her ways are unstable.
7 Now therefore, [my] sons, hearken unto me, And depart not from the words of my mouth.
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So now, [my] sons, listen to me, and don't turn away from the words of my mouth.
8 Remove thy way far from her, And come not nigh the door of her house;
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Keep your way far from her. Don't go near the door of her house.
9 Lest thou give thine honor unto others, And thy years unto the cruel;
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Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others and your years to someone cruel;
10 Lest strangers be filled with thy strength, And thy labors [be] in the house of an alien,
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strangers will drain your resources, and your earnings will end up in a foreigner's house.
11 And thou mourn at thy latter end, When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
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At the end of your life, you will lament when your physical body has been consumed,
12 And say, How have I hated instruction, And my heart despised reproof;
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and you will say, "How I hated discipline, and how my heart despised correction.
13 Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
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I didn't obey my teachers or listen closely to my mentors.
14 I was well-nigh in all evil In the midst of the assembly and congregation.
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I was on the verge of complete ruin before the entire community."
15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, And running waters out of thine own well.
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Drink water from your own cistern, water flowing from your own well.
16 Should thy springs be dispersed abroad, And streams of water in the streets?
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Should your springs flow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be for thyself alone, And not for strangers with thee.
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They should be for you alone and not for you [to share] with strangers.
18 Let thy fountain be blessed; And rejoice in the wife of thy youth.
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Let your fountain be blessed, and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.
19 [As] a loving hind and a pleasant doe, Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; And be thou ravished always with her love.
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A loving doe, a graceful fawn- let her breasts always satisfy you; be lost in her love forever.
20 For why shouldest thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?
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Why, my son, would you be infatuated with a forbidden woman or embrace the breast of a stranger?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah; And he maketh level all his paths.
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For a man's ways are before the Lord's eyes, and He considers all his paths.
22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked, And he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.
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A wicked man's iniquities entrap him; he is entangled in the ropes of his own sin.
23 He shall die for lack of instruction; And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
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He will die because there is no instruction, and be lost because of his great stupidity.
The American Standard Version is in the public domain.
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.