Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
1 My child, pay attention and listen to my wisdom and insight.
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My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:
2 Then you will know how to behave properly, and your words will show that you have knowledge.
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That you may maintain discretion, That your lips may preserve knowledge.
3 The lips of another man's wife may be as sweet as honey and her kisses as smooth as olive oil,
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For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,
4 but when it is all over, she leaves you nothing but bitterness and pain.
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But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, And as sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 She will take you down to the world of the dead; the road she walks is the road to death.
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Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.
6 She does not stay on the road to life; but wanders off, and does not realize what is happening.
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She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it.
7 Now listen to me, sons, and never forget what I am saying.
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Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don't depart from the words of my mouth.
8 Keep away from such a woman! Don't even go near her door!
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Remove your way far from her. Don't come near the door of her house,
9 If you do, others will gain the respect that you once had, and you will die young at the hands of merciless people.
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Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one;
10 Yes, strangers will take all your wealth, and what you have worked for will belong to someone else.
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Lest strangers feast on your wealth, And your labors enrich another man's house.
11 You will lie groaning on your deathbed, your flesh and muscles being eaten away,
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You will groan at your latter end, When your flesh and your body are consumed,
12 and you will say, "Why would I never learn? Why would I never let anyone correct me?
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And say, "How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised reproof;
13 I wouldn't listen to my teachers. I paid no attention to them.
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Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!
14 And suddenly I found myself publicly disgraced."
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I have come to the brink of utter ruin, In the midst of the gathered assembly."
15 Be faithful to your own wife and give your love to her alone.
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Drink water out of your own cistern, Running water out of your own well.
16 Children that you have by other women will do you no good.
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Should your springs overflow in the streets, Streams of water in the public squares?
17 Your children should grow up to help you, not strangers.
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Let them be for yourself alone, Not for strangers with you.
18 So be happy with your wife and find your joy with the woman you married -
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Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 pretty and graceful as a deer. Let her charms keep you happy; let her surround you with her love.
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A loving hind and a pleasant doe -- Let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.
20 Son, why should you give your love to another woman? Why should you prefer the charms of another man's wife?
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For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?
21 The Lord sees everything you do. Wherever you go, he is watching.
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For the ways of man are before the eyes of Yahweh. He examines all his paths.
22 The sins of the wicked are a trap. They get caught in the net of their own sin.
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The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
23 They die because they have no self-control. Their utter stupidity will send them to their graves.
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He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.