| English Standard Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding, | 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight, |
| 2that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. | 2that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge. |
| 3For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, | 3Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil, |
| 4but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. | 4in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword. |
| 5Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; | 5Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol. |
| 6she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. | 6She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable. |
| 7And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. | 7So now, my sons, listen to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth. |
| 8Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house, | 8Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house, |
| 9lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless, | 9lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel; |
| 10lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner, | 10lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner. |
| 11and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed, | 11At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are spent, |
| 12and you say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! | 12and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! |
| 13I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors. | 13I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors. |
| 14I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.” | 14I am on the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.” |
| 15Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. | 15Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well. |
| 16Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets? | 16Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? |
| 17Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you. | 17Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. |
| 18Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, | 18May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth: |
| 19a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love. | 19A loving doe, a graceful fawn—may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever. |
| 20Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? | 20Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger? |
| 21For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his paths. | 21For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths. |
| 22The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. | 22The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him. |
| 23He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray. | 23He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly. |
| 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. | The Berean Bible (Berean Study Bible (BSB) © 2016, 2018 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. |
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