| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight, | 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen carefully to my wise counsel. |
| 2that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge. | 2Then you will show discernment, and your lips will express what you’ve learned. |
| 3Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil, | 3For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. |
| 4in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword. | 4But in the end she is as bitter as poison, as dangerous as a double-edged sword. |
| 5Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol. | 5Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. |
| 6She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable. | 6For she cares nothing about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it. |
| 7So now, my sons, listen to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth. | 7So now, my sons, listen to me. Never stray from what I am about to say: |
| 8Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house, | 8Stay away from her! Don’t go near the door of her house! |
| 9lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel; | 9If you do, you will lose your honor and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved. |
| 10lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner. | 10Strangers will consume your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor. |
| 11At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are spent, | 11In the end you will groan in anguish when disease consumes your body. |
| 12and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! | 12You will say, “How I hated discipline! If only I had not ignored all the warnings! |
| 13I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors. | 13Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors? |
| 14I am on the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.” | 14I have come to the brink of utter ruin, and now I must face public disgrace.” |
| 15Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well. | 15Drink water from your own well— share your love only with your wife. |
| 16Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? | 16Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone? |
| 17Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. | 17You should reserve it for yourselves. Never share it with strangers. |
| 18May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth: | 18Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. |
| 19A loving doe, a graceful fawn—may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever. | 19She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love. |
| 20Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger? | 20Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman, or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman? |
| 21For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths. | 21For the LORD sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. |
| 22The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him. | 22An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. |
| 23He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly. | 23He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness. |
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