27MAY NOT YOU TURN ASIDE RIGHT AND LEFT TURN ASIDE FOOT YOUR FROM EVIL 27Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil.
1O SON MY TO WISDOM MY BE ATTENTIVE! TO UNDERSTANDING MY INCLINE EAR YOUR Avoiding Immorality (Leviticus 20:10–21; 1 Corinthians 5:1–8) 1My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight,
2TO PRESERVE DISCRETION AND KNOWLEDGE LIPS YOUR THEY WILL OBSERVE 2that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.
3FOR HONEY THEY DRIP [THE] LIPS OF A STRANGE [WOMAN] AND [IS] SMOOTH MORE THAN OIL MOUTH HER 3Though the lips of the forbidden woman*NoteCloseOr the adulteress drip honey and her speech*NoteCloseOr her palate is smoother than oil,
4AND END HER [IS] BITTER LIKE <THE> WORMWOOD SHARP LIKE A SWORD OF MOUTHS 4in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.
5FEET HER [ARE] GOING DOWN DEATH SHEOL STEPS HER THEY WILL ATTAIN 5Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol.*NoteCloseOr lay hold of Sheol
6[THE] PATH OF LIFE LEST SHE SHOULD MAKE LEVEL THEY WANDER TRACKS HER NOT SHE KNOWS 6She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable.
7AND THEREFORE O CHILDREN LISTEN TO ME AND MAY NOT YOU DEPART FROM [THE] UTTERANCES OF MOUTH MY 7So now, my sons, listen to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth.
8MAKE FAR AWAY FROM WITH <THE> HER WAY YOUR AND MAY NOT YOU DRAW NEAR TO [THE] ENTRANCE OF HOUSE HER 8Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,
9LEST YOU SHOULD GIVE TO OTHERS VIGOR YOUR AND YEARS YOUR TO A CRUEL [PERSON] 9lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel;
10LEST THEY SHOULD BE SATISFIED STRANGERS STRENGTH YOUR AND LABOR YOUR [BE] IN [THE] HOUSE OF A FOREIGNER 10lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner.
11AND YOU WILL GROAN AT END YOUR WHEN WASTES AWAY FLESH YOUR AND BODY YOUR 11At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are spent,
12AND YOU WILL SAY HOW! I HATED DISCIPLINE AND REBUKE IT SPURNED HEART MY 12and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!
13AND NOT I LISTENED TO [THE] VOICE OF INSTRUCTOR MY AND TO TEACHERS MY NOT I INCLINED EAR MY 13I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors.
14LIKE A LITTLE I WAS IN EVERY CALAMITY IN AMONG [THE] ASSEMBLY AND [THE] CONGREGATION 14I am on the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly
15DRINK WATER FROM OWN CISTERN YOUR AND STREAMS FROM [THE] MIDST OF OWN WELL YOUR 15Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.
16WILL THEY OVERFLOW? SPRINGS YOUR [THE] OUTSIDE TOWARDS IN THE OPEN PLACES STREAMS OF WATER 16Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?
17LET THEM BELONG TO YOU TO ALONE YOU AND NOT TO STRANGERS WITH YOU 17Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.
18MAY IT BE SPRING YOUR BLESSED AND REJOICE FROM [THE] WIFE OF YOUTH<S> YOUR 18May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
19A DOE OF LOVES AND A GOAT OF GRACE BREASTS HER MAY THEY SATISFY YOU AT EVERY TIME BY LOVE HER MAY YOU BE INTOXICATED CONTINUALLY 19A loving doe, a graceful fawn— may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated*NoteCloseOr be led astray; also in verse 20 by her love forever.
20AND <TO> WHY? WILL YOU GO ASTRAY O SON MY WITH A STRANGE [WOMAN] <SO> MAY YOU EMBRACE? [THE] BOSOM OF A FOREIGN [WOMAN] 20Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger?*NoteCloseOr a foreign woman or another man’s wife
21FOR BEFORE [THE] EYES OF YAHWEH [THE] WAYS OF A PERSON AND ALL TRACKS HIS [HE IS] MAKING LEVEL 21For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines*NoteCloseOr ponders or makes level all his paths.
22INIQUITIES HIS THEY WILL SEIZE HIM <OBJ.> THE WICKED [PERSON] AND BY [THE] CORDS OF SIN HIS HE WILL BE HELD 22The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
23HE HE WILL DIE FOR NOT DISCIPLINE AND IN [THE] GREATNESS OF FOOLISHNESS HIS HE WILL GO ASTRAY 23He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.