Proverbs 5
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New International VersionHolman Christian Standard Bible
1My son, pay attention to my wisdom, turn your ear to my words of insight,1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen closely to my understanding
2that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.2so that you may maintain discretion and your lips safeguard knowledge.
3For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil;3Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her words are smoother than oil,
4but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword.4in the end she's as bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a double-edged sword.
5Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave.5Her feet go down to death; her steps head straight for Sheol.
6She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.6She doesn't consider the path of life; she doesn't know that her ways are unstable.
7Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say.7So now, my sons, listen to me, and don't turn away from the words of my mouth.
8Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house,8Keep your way far from her. Don't go near the door of her house.
9lest you lose your honor to others and your dignity to one who is cruel,9Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others and your years to someone cruel;
10lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich the house of another.10strangers will drain your resources, and your earnings will end up in a foreigner's house.
11At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent.11At the end of your life, you will lament when your physical body has been consumed,
12You will say, "How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction!12and you will say, "How I hated discipline, and how my heart despised correction.
13I would not obey my teachers or turn my ear to my instructors.13I didn't obey my teachers or listen closely to my mentors.
14And I was soon in serious trouble in the assembly of God's people."14I am on the verge of complete ruin before the entire community."
15Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.15Drink water from your own cistern, water flowing from your own well.
16Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?16Should your springs flow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
17Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.17They should be for you alone and not for you to share with strangers.
18May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.18Let your fountain be blessed, and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.
19A loving doe, a graceful deer-- may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love.19A loving doe, a graceful fawn-- let her breasts always satisfy you; be lost in her love forever.
20Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man's wife? Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?20Why, my son, would you be infatuated with a forbidden woman or embrace the breast of a stranger?
21For your ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all your paths.21For a man's ways are before the LORD's eyes, and He considers all his paths.
22The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast.22A wicked man's iniquities entrap him; he is entangled in the ropes of his own sin.
23For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly.23He will die because there is no discipline, and be lost because of his great stupidity.
New International Version (NIV)

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Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.
Proverbs 4
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