| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you; | 1Follow my advice, my son; always treasure my commands. |
| 2keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye; | 2Obey my commands and live! Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes. |
| 3bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. | 3Tie them on your fingers as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. |
| 4Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call insight your intimate friend, | 4Love wisdom like a sister; make insight a beloved member of your family. |
| 5to keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words. | 5Let them protect you from an affair with an immoral woman, from listening to the flattery of a promiscuous woman. |
| 6For at the window of my house I have looked out through my lattice, | 6While I was at the window of my house, looking through the curtain, |
| 7and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense, | 7I saw some naive young men, and one in particular who lacked common sense. |
| 8passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house | 8He was crossing the street near the house of an immoral woman, strolling down the path by her house. |
| 9in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness. | 9It was at twilight, in the evening, as deep darkness fell. |
| 10And behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart. | 10The woman approached him, seductively dressed and sly of heart. |
| 11She is loud and wayward; her feet do not stay at home; | 11She was the brash, rebellious type, never content to stay at home. |
| 12now in the street, now in the market, and at every corner she lies in wait. | 12She is often in the streets and markets, soliciting at every corner. |
| 13She seizes him and kisses him, and with bold face she says to him, | 13She threw her arms around him and kissed him, and with a brazen look she said, |
| 14“I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows; | 14“I’ve just made my peace offerings and fulfilled my vows. |
| 15so now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you. | 15You’re the one I was looking for! I came out to find you, and here you are! |
| 16I have spread my couch with coverings, colored linens from Egyptian linen; | 16My bed is spread with beautiful blankets, with colored sheets of Egyptian linen. |
| 17I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. | 17I’ve perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. |
| 18Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; let us delight ourselves with love. | 18Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning. Let’s enjoy each other’s caresses, |
| 19For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey; | 19for my husband is not home. He’s away on a long trip. |
| 20he took a bag of money with him; at full moon he will come home.” | 20He has taken a wallet full of money with him and won’t return until later this month. ” |
| 21With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. | 21So she seduced him with her pretty speech and enticed him with her flattery. |
| 22All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast | 22He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter. He was like a stag caught in a trap, |
| 23till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life. | 23awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart. He was like a bird flying into a snare, little knowing it would cost him his life. |
| 24And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. | 24So listen to me, my sons, and pay attention to my words. |
| 25Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths, | 25Don’t let your hearts stray away toward her. Don’t wander down her wayward path. |
| 26for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng. | 26For she has been the ruin of many; many men have been her victims. |
| 27Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death. | 27Her house is the road to the grave. Her bedroom is the den of death. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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