Proverbs 7
1 My son, keep my words and treasure my commandments within you.
[My] son, keep my words, and hide with you my commandments. [My] son, honor the Lord, and you shall be strong; and fear none but him:
2 Keep my commandments and live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
keep my commandments, and you shall live; and [keep] my words as the pupils of [your] eyes.
3 Tie them to your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
And bind them on your fingers, and write [them] on the table of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your kinsman,
Say that wisdom is your sister, and gain prudence as an acquaintance for yourself;
5 that they may keep you from the adulteress, from the stranger with seductive words.
that she may keep you from the strange and wicked woman, if she should assail you with flattering words.
6 For at the window of my house I looked through the lattice.
For she looks from a window out of her house into the streets, at one whom she may see of the senseless ones, a young man void of understanding,
7 I saw among the simple, I noticed among the youths, a young man lacking judgment,
passing by the corner in the passages near her house,
8 crossing the street near her corner, strolling down the road to her house,
and speaking, in the dark of the evening,
9 at twilight, as the day was fading into the dark of the night.
when there happens [to be] the stillness of night and of darkness:
10 Then a woman came out to meet him, with the attire of a harlot and cunning of heart.
and the woman meets him having the appearance of a harlot, that causes the hearts of young men to flutter.
11 She is loud and defiant; her feet do not remain at home.
And she is fickle, and debauched, and her feet abide not at home.
12 Now in the street, now in the squares, she lurks at every corner.
For at one time she wanders without, and at [another] time she lies in wait in the streets, at every corner.
13 She seizes him and kisses him; she brazenly says to him:
Then she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said to him,
14 “I have made my peace offerings; today I have paid my vows.
I have a peace-offering; today I pay my vows:
15 So I came out to meet you; I sought you, and I have found you.
therefore I came forth to meet you, desiring your face; [and] I have found you.
16 I have decked my bed with coverings, with colored linen from Egypt.
I have spread my bed with sheets, and I have covered it with double tapestry from Egypt.
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, with aloes, and with cinnamon.
I have sprinkled my couch with saffron, and my house with cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning. Let us delight in loving caresses!
Come, and let us enjoy love until the morning; come, and let us embrace in love.
19 For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey.
For my husband is not at home, but is gone on a long journey,
20 He took with him a bag of money and will not return till the moon is full.”
having taken in his hand a bundle of money: after many days he will return to his house.
21 With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him.
So with much converse she prevailed on him to go astray, and with the snares of her lips forced him from [the right path].
22 He follows her on impulse, like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding into a trap,
And he followed her, being gently led on, and [that] as an ox is led to the slaughter, and as a dog to bonds, or as a hart shot in the liver with an arrow:
23 until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare— not knowing it will cost him his life.
and he hastens as a bird into a snare, not knowing that he is running for [his] life.
24 Now, my sons, listen to me, and attend to the words of my mouth.
Now then, [my] son, listen to me, and attend to the words of my mouth.
25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths.
Let not your heart turn aside to her ways:
26 For she has brought many down to death; her slain are many in number.
for she has wounded and cast down many, and those whom she has slain are innumerable.
