Revised Standard Version RSV
Good News Translation GNT
1 My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you;
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My child, remember what I say and never forget what I tell you to do.
2 keep my commandments and live, keep my teachings as the apple of your eye;
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Do what I say, and you will live. Be as careful to follow my teaching as you are to protect your eyes.
3 bind them on your fingers, write them on the tablet of your heart.
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Keep my teaching with you all the time; write it on your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," and call insight your intimate friend;
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Treat wisdom as your sister, and insight as your closest friend.
5 to preserve you from the loose woman, from the adventuress with her smooth words.
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They will keep you away from other men's wives, from women with seductive words.
6 For at the window of my house I have looked out through my lattice,
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Once I was looking out the window of my house,
7 and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youths, a young man without sense,
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and I saw many inexperienced young men, but noticed one foolish fellow in particular.
8 passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house
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He was walking along the street near the corner where a certain woman lived. He was passing near her house
9 in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness.
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in the evening after it was dark.
10 And lo, a woman meets him, dressed as a harlot, wily of heart.
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And then she met him; she was dressed like a prostitute and was making plans.
11 She is loud and wayward, her feet do not stay at home;
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She was a bold and shameless woman who always walked the streets
12 now in the street, now in the market, and at every corner she lies in wait.
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or stood waiting at a corner, sometimes in the streets, sometimes in the marketplace.
13 She seizes him and kisses him, and with impudent face she says to him:
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She threw her arms around the young man, kissed him, looked him straight in the eye, and said,
14 "I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows;
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"I made my offerings today and have the meat from the sacrifices.
15 so now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
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So I came out looking for you. I wanted to find you, and here you are!
16 I have decked my couch with coverings, colored spreads of Egyptian linen;
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I've covered my bed with sheets of colored linen from Egypt.
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
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I've perfumed it with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; let us delight ourselves with love.
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Come on! Let's make love all night long. We'll be happy in each other's arms.
19 For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey;
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My husband isn't at home. He's on a long trip.
20 he took a bag of money with him; at full moon he will come home."
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He took plenty of money with him and won't be back for two weeks."
21 With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him.
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So she tempted him with her charms, and he gave in to her smooth talk.
22 All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast
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Suddenly he was going with her like an ox on the way to be slaughtered, like a deer prancing into a trap
23 till an arrow pierces its entrails; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life.
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where an arrow would pierce its heart. He was like a bird going into a net - he did not know that his life was in danger.
24 And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
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Now then, sons, listen to me. Pay attention to what I say.
25 Let not your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths;
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Do not let such a woman win your heart; don't go wandering after her.
26 for many a victim has she laid low; yea, all her slain are a mighty host.
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She has been the ruin of many men and caused the death of too many to count.
27 Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.
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If you go to her house, you are on the way to the world of the dead. It is a shortcut to death.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.