1My son, keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you.
2Keep my commandments and live,
And my teaching as the apple of your eye.
3Bind them on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call understanding your intimate friend,
5So that they may keep you from an adulteress,[#7:5 Lit strange woman]
From the foreigner who flatters with her words.
6¶For at the window of my house
I looked out through my lattice,
7And I saw among the naive,
And discerned among the youths
A young man lacking sense,
8Passing through the street near her corner;
And he walks along the way to her house,
9In the twilight, in the evening,[#7:9 Lit evening of the day]
In the middle of the night and the darkness.
10And behold, a woman comes to meet him,
Dressed as a prostitute and cunning of heart.
11She is boisterous and rebellious,
Her feet do not remain at home;
12She is now in the streets, now in the public squares,
And lurks by every corner.
13So she seizes him and kisses him,
And with a brazen face she says to him:
14“I was due to offer peace offerings;[#7:14 Lit Sacrifices of peace offerings are with me]
Today I have paid my vows.
15“Therefore I have come out to meet you,
To seek your presence diligently, and I have found you.
16“I have spread my couch with coverings,
With colored linens of Egypt.
17“I have sprinkled my bed
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18“Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning;
Let’s delight ourselves with caresses.
19“For my husband is not at home;[#7:19 Lit the man]
He has gone on a long journey.
20“He has taken a bag of money with him.[#7:20 Lit in his hand]
At the full moon he will come home.”
21With her many persuasions she entices him;
With her flattering lips she seduces him.
22Suddenly he follows her
As an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or as one walks in ankle bracelets to the discipline of a fool,
23Until an arrow pierces through his liver;
As a bird hurries to the snare,
So he does not know that it will cost him his life.
24¶Now therefore, my sons, listen to me,
And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths.
26For many are the victims she has brought to ruin,[#7:26 Lit wounded]
And numerous are all those slaughtered by her.
27Her house is the way to Sheol,
Descending to the chambers of death.