The Message Bible MSG
King James Version KJV
1 Dear friend, pay close attention to this, my wisdom; listen very closely to the way I see it.
1
My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
2 Then you'll acquire a taste for good sense; what I tell you will keep you out of trouble.
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That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
3 The lips of a seductive woman are oh so sweet, her soft words are oh so smooth.
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For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
4 But it won't be long before she's gravel in your mouth, a pain in your gut, a wound in your heart.
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But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
5 She's dancing down the primrose path to Death; she's headed straight for Hell and taking you with her.
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Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
6 She hasn't a clue about Real Life, about who she is or where she's going.
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Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
7 So, my friend, listen closely; don't treat my words casually.
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Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
8 Keep your distance from such a woman; absolutely stay out of her neighborhood.
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Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
9 You don't want to squander your wonderful life, to waste your precious life among the hardhearted.
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Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
10 Why should you allow strangers to take advantage of you? Why be exploited by those who care nothing for you?
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Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
11 You don't want to end your life full of regrets, nothing but sin and bones,
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And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 Saying, "Oh, why didn't I do what they told me? Why did I reject a disciplined life?
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And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
13 Why didn't I listen to my mentors, or take my teachers seriously?
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And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
14 My life is ruined! I haven't one blessed thing to show for my life!" Never Take Love for Granted
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I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
15 Do you know the saying, "Drink from your own rain barrel, draw water from your own spring-fed well"?
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Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
16 It's true. Otherwise, you may one day come home and find your barrel empty and your well polluted.
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Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
17 Your spring water is for you and you only, not to be passed around among strangers.
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Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
18 Bless your fresh-flowing fountain! Enjoy the wife you married as a young man!
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Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
19 Lovely as an angel, beautiful as a rose - don't ever quit taking delight in her body. Never take her love for granted!
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Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
20 Why would you trade enduring intimacies for cheap thrills with a whore? for dalliance with a promiscuous stranger?
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And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 Mark well that God doesn't miss a move you make; he's aware of every step you take.
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For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.
22 The shadow of your sin will overtake you; you'll find yourself stumbling all over yourself in the dark.
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His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
23 Death is the reward of an undisciplined life; your foolish decisions trap you in a dead end.
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He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The King James Version is in the public domain.