The Message Bible MSG
New Living Translation NLT
1 Dear friend, do what I tell you; treasure my careful instructions.
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Follow my advice, my son; always treasure my commands.
2 Do what I say and you'll live well. My teaching is as precious as your eyesight - guard it!
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Obey my commands and live! Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes.
3 Write it out on the back of your hands; etch it on the chambers of your heart.
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Tie them on your fingers as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.
4 Talk to Wisdom as to a sister. Treat Insight as your companion.
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Love wisdom like a sister; make insight a beloved member of your family.
5 They'll be with you to fend off the Temptress - that smooth-talking, honey-tongued Seductress.
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Let them protect you from an affair with an immoral woman, from listening to the flattery of a promiscuous woman.
6 As I stood at the window of my house looking out through the shutters,
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While I was at the window of my house, looking through the curtain,
7 Watching the mindless crowd stroll by, I spotted a young man without any sense
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I saw some naive young men, and one in particular who lacked common sense.
8 Arriving at the corner of the street where she lived, then turning up the path to her house.
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He was crossing the street near the house of an immoral woman, strolling down the path by her house.
9 It was dusk, the evening coming on, the darkness thickening into night.
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It was at twilight, in the evening, as deep darkness fell.
10 Just then, a woman met him - she'd been lying in wait for him, dressed to seduce him.
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The woman approached him, seductively dressed and sly of heart.
11 Brazen and brash she was, restless and roaming, never at home,
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She was the brash, rebellious type, never content to stay at home.
12 Walking the streets, loitering in the mall, hanging out at every corner in town.
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She is often in the streets and markets, soliciting at every corner.
13 She threw her arms around him and kissed him, boldly took his arm and said,
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She threw her arms around him and kissed him, and with a brazen look she said,
14 "I've got all the makings for a feast - today I made my offerings, my vows are all paid,
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“I’ve just made my peace offerings and fulfilled my vows.
15 So now I've come to find you, hoping to catch sight of your face - and here you are!
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You’re the one I was looking for! I came out to find you, and here you are!
16 I've spread fresh, clean sheets on my bed, colorful imported linens.
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My bed is spread with beautiful blankets, with colored sheets of Egyptian linen.
17 My bed is aromatic with spices and exotic fragrances.
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I’ve perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let's make love all night, spend the night in ecstatic lovemaking!
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Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning. Let’s enjoy each other’s caresses,
19 My husband's not home; he's away on business, and he won't be back for a month."
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for my husband is not home. He’s away on a long trip.
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He has taken a wallet full of money with him and won’t return until later this month. ”
21 Soon she has him eating out of her hand, bewitched by her honeyed speech.
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So she seduced him with her pretty speech and enticed him with her flattery.
22 Before you know it, he's trotting behind her, like a calf led to the butcher shop, Like a stag lured into ambush
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He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter. He was like a stag caught in a trap,
23 and then shot with an arrow, Like a bird flying into a net not knowing that its flying life is over.
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awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart. He was like a bird flying into a snare, little knowing it would cost him his life.
24 So, friends, listen to me, take these words of mine most seriously.
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So listen to me, my sons, and pay attention to my words.
25 Don't fool around with a woman like that; don't even stroll through her neighborhood.
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Don’t let your hearts stray away toward her. Don’t wander down her wayward path.
26 Countless victims come under her spell; she's the death of many a poor man.
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For she has been the ruin of many; many men have been her victims.
27 She runs a halfway house to hell, fits you out with a shroud and a coffin.
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Her house is the road to the grave. Her bedroom is the den of death.
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.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.