Proverbs 7
Admonition to Avoid the Wiles of the Adulteress1
7:1 My child,2 keep my words
and treasure up my commands in your own keeping.3
7:2 Keep my commands4 so that you may live,5
and obey6 my instruction as your most prized possession.7
7:3 Bind them on your forearm;8
write them on the tablet of your heart.9
7:4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”10
and call understanding a close relative,
7:5 so that they may keep you11 from the adulterous12 woman,
from the loose woman13 who flatters you14 with her words.15
7:6 For at the window of my house
through my window lattice I looked out
7:7 and I saw among the naive –
I discerned among the youths16 –
a young man17 who lacked wisdom.18
7:8 He was passing by the street near her corner,
making his way19 along the road to her house20
7:9 in the twilight, the evening,21
in the dark of the night.22
7:10 Suddenly23 a woman came out to meet him!
She was dressed like a prostitute24 and with secret intent.25
7:11 (She is loud and rebellious,
she26 does not remain27 at home –
7:12 at one time outside, at another28 in the wide plazas,
and by every corner she lies in wait.)
7:13 So she grabbed him and kissed him,
and with a bold expression29 she said to him,
7:14 “I have30 fresh meat at home;31
today I have fulfilled my vows!
7:15 That is why I came out to meet you,
to look for you,32 and I found you!
7:16 I have spread my bed with elegant coverings,33
with richly colored fabric34 from Egypt.
with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
7:18 Come, let’s drink deeply35 of lovemaking36 until morning,
let’s delight ourselves37 with sexual intercourse.38
7:19 For my husband39 is not at home;40
he has gone on a journey of some distance.
7:20 He has taken a bag of money with him;41
he will not return until42 the end of the month.”43
7:21 She persuaded him44 with persuasive words;45
with her smooth talk46 she compelled him.47
7:22 Suddenly he went48 after her
like an ox that goes to the slaughter,
like a stag prancing into a trapper’s snare49
7:23 till an arrow pierces his liver50 –
like a bird hurrying into a trap,
and he does not know that it will cost him his life.51
7:24 So now, sons,52 listen to me,
and pay attention to the words I speak.53
7:25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways –
do not wander into her pathways;
7:26 for she has brought down54 many fatally wounded,
and all those she has slain are many.55
7:27 Her house is the way to the grave,56