20 The term הוֹד (hod, “vigor; splendor; majesty”) in this context means the best time of one’s life (cf. “your best strength”), the full manly vigor that will be wasted with licentiousness. Here it is paralleled by “years,” which refers to the best years of that vigor, the prime of life. Life would be ruined by living this way, or the revenge of the woman’s husband would cut it short.
21 Or “are sated, satisfied.”
22 The word כֹּחַ (coakh, “strength”) refers to what laborious toil would produce (so a metonymy of cause). Everything that this person worked for could become the property for others to enjoy.
23 “labor, painful toil.”
24 The term “benefit” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.
25 Heb “at your end.”
26 The form is the perfect tense with the vav consecutive; it is equal to a specific future within this context. The verb means “to growl, groan.” It refers to a lion when it devours its prey, and to a sufferer in pain or remorse (e.g., Ezek 24:23).
27 Heb “in the finishing of your flesh and your body.” The construction uses the Qal infinitive construct of כָּלָה (calah) in a temporal clause; the verb means “be complete, at an end, finished, spent.”
28 The vav that introduces this clause functions in an explanatory sense.
29 The Hebrew term מוֹרַי (moray) is the nominal form based on the Hiphil plural participle with a suffix, from the root יָרָה (yarah). The verb is “to teach,” the common noun is “instruction, law [torah],” and this participle form is teacher (“my teachers”).
30 The idioms are vivid: This expression is “incline the ear”; earlier in the first line is “listen to the voice,” meaning “obey.” Such detailed description emphasizes the importance of the material.
31 The form is the Piel plural participle of לָמַד (lamad) used substantivally.
32 The expression כִּמְעַט (kim’at) is “like a little.” It means “almost,” and is used of unrealized action ( 590 2). Cf. “I came close to”; “I have come to the brink of.”
33 Heb “I was in all evil” (cf. , ).
34 The text uses the two words “congregation and assembly” to form a hendiadys, meaning the entire assembly.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

lest you give your honor to others

and your years to the merciless,

lest strangers take their fill of your strength,

and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,

and at the end of your life you groan,

when your flesh and body are consumed,

and you say, “How I hated discipline,

and my heart despised reproof!

I did not listen to the voice of my teachers

or incline my ear to my instructors.

I am at the brink of utter ruin

in the assembled congregation.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

lest you lose your honor to others

and your dignity to one who is cruel,

lest strangers feast on your wealth

and your toil enrich the house of another.

At the end of your life you will groan,

when your flesh and body are spent.

You will say, “How I hated discipline!

How my heart spurned correction!

I would not obey my teachers

or turn my ear to my instructors.

And I was soon in serious trouble

in the assembly of God’s people.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others

and your years to someone cruel;

strangers will drain your resources,

and your hard-earned pay will end up in a foreigner’s house.

At the end of your life, you will lament

when your physical body has been consumed,

and you will say, “How I hated discipline,

and how my heart despised correction.

I didn’t obey my teachers

or listen closely to my instructors.

I am on the verge of complete ruin

before the entire community.”

NLTNew Living Translation

If you do, you will lose your honor

and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved.

Strangers will consume your wealth,

and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor.

In the end you will groan in anguish

when disease consumes your body.

You will say, “How I hated discipline!

If only I had not ignored all the warnings!

Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers?

Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors?

I have come to the brink of utter ruin,

and now I must face public disgrace.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

lest you give your honor to the others,

and your years to the merciless,

lest strangers take their fill of your strength,

and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,

and you groan at your end,

when your flesh and body are consumed,

and say “How I hated discipline,

and I despised reproof!”

and “I did not listen to the voice of my teachers,

and I did not incline my ear to my instructors!

I was almost at utter ruin

in the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

KJV 1900King James Version

Lest thou give thine honour unto others,

And thy years unto the cruel:

Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth;

And thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

And thou mourn at the last,

When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

And say, How have I hated instruction,

And my heart despised reproof;

And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,

Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

I was almost in all evil

In the midst of the congregation and assembly.

Public Domain