Proverbs 7

¹My son, keep my words,

And treasure my commands within you.

²Keep my commands and live,

And my law 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 nearest kin,

⁵That they may keep you from the immoral woman,

From the seductress who flatters with her words.

The Crafty Harlot

⁶For at the window of my house

I looked through my lattice,

⁷And saw among the simple,

I perceived among the ^ayouths,

A young man devoid^b of understanding,

⁸Passing along the street near her corner;

And he took the path to her house

⁹In the twilight, in the evening,

In the black and dark night.

¹⁰And there a woman met him,

With the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart.

¹¹She was loud and rebellious,

Her feet would not stay at home.

¹²At times she was outside, at times in the open square,

Lurking at every corner.

¹³So she caught him and kissed him;

With an ^cimpudent face she said to him:

¹⁴“I have peace offerings with me;

Today I have paid my vows.

¹⁵So I came out to meet you,

Diligently to seek your face,

And I have found you.

¹⁶I have spread my bed with tapestry,

Colored coverings of Egyptian linen.

¹⁷I have perfumed my bed

With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

¹⁸Come, let us take our fill of love until morning;

Let us delight ourselves with love.

¹⁹For ^dmy husband is not at home;

He has gone on a long journey;

²⁰He has taken a bag of money ^ewith him,

And will come home ^fon the appointed day.”

^21gWith her enticing speech she caused him to yield,

With her flattering lips she ^hseduced him.

²²Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter,

Or ⁱas a fool to the correction of the ^jstocks,

²³Till an arrow struck his liver.

As a bird hastens to the snare,

He did not know it ^kwould cost his life.

²⁴Now therefore, listen to me, my children;

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 she has cast down many wounded,

And all who were slain by her were strong men.

²⁷Her house is the way to ^lhell,

Descending to the chambers of death.