New King James Version NKJV
Revised Standard Version RSV
1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding,
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My son, be attentive to my wisdom, incline your ear to my understanding;
2 That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge.
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that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge.
3 For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;
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For the lips of a loose woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil;
4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
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but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell.
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Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol;
6 Lest you ponder her path of life-- Her ways are unstable; You do not know them.
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she does not take heed to the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it.
7 Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth.
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And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8 Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house,
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Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house;
9 Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one;
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lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless;
10 Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;
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lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of an alien;
11 And you mourn at last, When your flesh and your body are consumed,
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and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed,
12 And say: "How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction!
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and you say, "How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!
13 I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!
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I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.
14 I was on the verge of total ruin, In the midst of the assembly and congregation."
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I was at the point of utter ruin in the assembled congregation."
15 Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well.
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Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.
16 Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets?
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Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you.
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Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth.
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Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
19 As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love.
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a lovely hind, a graceful doe. Let her affection fill you at all times with delight, be infatuated always with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?
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Why should you be infatuated, my son, with a loose woman and embrace the bosom of an adventuress?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He ponders all his paths.
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For a man's ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he watches all his paths.
22 His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin.
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The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is caught in the toils of his 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 dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is lost.