King James Bible

New American Standard Bible

Avoid Immorality

My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

1

Pitfalls of Immorality

My son, give attention to my wisdom,
Incline your ear to my understanding;

2

That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

2

That you may observe discretion
And your lips may reserve knowledge.

3

For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

3

For the lips of an adulteress drip honey
And smoother than oil is her speech;

4

But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.

4

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.

5

Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

5

Her feet go down to death,
Her steps take hold of Sheol.

6

Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

6

She does not ponder the path of life;
Her ways are unstable, she does not know it.

7

Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

7

Now then, my sons, listen to me
And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

8

Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

8

Keep your way far from her
And do not go near the door of her house,

9

Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

9

Or you will give your vigor to others
And your years to the cruel one;

10

Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

10

And strangers will be filled with your strength
And your hard-earned goods will go to the house of an alien;

11

And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

11

And you groan at your final end,
When your flesh and your body are consumed;

12

And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

12

And you say, “How I have hated instruction!
And my heart spurned reproof!

13

And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

13

“I have not listened to the voice of my teachers,
Nor inclined my ear to my instructors!

14

I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

14

“I was almost in utter ruin
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

15

Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

15

Drink water from your own cistern
And fresh water from your own well.

16

Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

16

Should your springs be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets?

17

Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.

17

Let them be yours alone
And not for strangers with you.

18

Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

18

Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice in the wife of your youth.

19

Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

19

As a loving hind and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be exhilarated always with her love.

20

And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

20

For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress
And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

21

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.

21

For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD,
And He watches all his paths.

22

His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

22

His own iniquities will capture the wicked,
And he will be held with the cords of his sin.

23

He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

23

He will die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.

Parallel

King James Bible

New American Standard Bible

Proverbs 5

Proverbs 5