Revised Standard Version RSV
GOD'S WORD Translation GW
1 My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you;
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My son, pay attention to my words. Treasure my commands that are within you.
2 keep my commandments and live, keep my teachings as the apple of your eye;
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Obey my commands so that you may live. Follow my teachings just as you protect the pupil of your eye.
3 bind them on your fingers, write them on the tablet of your heart.
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Tie them on your fingers. Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," and call insight your intimate friend;
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Say to wisdom, "You are my sister." Give the name "my relative" to understanding
5 to preserve you from the loose woman, from the adventuress with her smooth words.
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in order to guard yourself from an adulterous woman, from a loose woman with her smooth talk.
6 For at the window of my house I have looked out through my lattice,
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From a window in my house I looked through my screen.
7 and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youths, a young man without sense,
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I was looking at gullible people when I saw a young man without much sense among youths.
8 passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house
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He was crossing a street near her corner and walking toward her house
9 in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness.
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in the twilight, in the evening, in the dark hours of the night.
10 And lo, a woman meets him, dressed as a harlot, wily of heart.
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A woman with an ulterior motive meets him. She is dressed as a prostitute.
11 She is loud and wayward, her feet do not stay at home;
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She is loud and rebellious. Her feet will not stay at home.
12 now in the street, now in the market, and at every corner she lies in wait.
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One moment she is out on the street, the next she is at the curb, on the prowl at every corner.
13 She seizes him and kisses him, and with impudent face she says to him:
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She grabs him and kisses him and brazenly says to him,
14 "I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows;
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"I have some sacrificial meat. Today I kept my vows.
15 so now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
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That's why I came to meet you. Eagerly, I looked for you, and I've found you.
16 I have decked my couch with coverings, colored spreads of Egyptian linen;
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I've made my bed, with colored sheets of Egyptian linen.
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
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I've sprinkled my bed 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, let's drink our fill of love until morning. Let's enjoy making love,
19 For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey;
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because my husband's not home. He has gone 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 lots of money with him. He won't be home for a couple of weeks."
21 With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him.
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With all her seductive charms, she persuades him. With her smooth lips, she makes him give in.
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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He immediately follows her like a steer on its way to be slaughtered, like a ram hobbling into captivity
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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until an arrow pierces his heart, like a bird darting into a trap. He does not realize that it will cost him his life.
24 And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
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Now, sons, listen to me. Pay attention to the words from my mouth.
25 Let not your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths;
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Do not let your heart be turned to her ways. Do not wander onto her paths,
26 for many a victim has she laid low; yea, all her slain are a mighty host.
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because she has brought down many victims, and she has killed all too many.
27 Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.
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Her home is the way to hell and leads to the darkest vaults of 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.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.