Proverbs 7
1 [My] son, keep my words, and hide with you my commandments. [My] son, honour the Lord, and you shall be strong; and fear none but him:
My son! keep my sayings, And my commands lay up with thee.
2 keep my commandments, and you shall live; and [keep] my words as the pupils of [your] eyes.
Keep my commands, and live, And my law as the pupil of thine eye.
3 And bind them on your fingers, and write [them] on the table of your heart.
Bind them on thy fingers, Write them on the tablet of thy heart.
4 Say that wisdom is your sister, and gain prudence as an acquaintance for yourself;
Say to wisdom, 'My sister Thou [art].' And cry to understanding, 'Kinswoman!'
5 that she may keep you from the strange and wicked woman, if she should assail you with flattering words.
To preserve thee from a strange woman, From a stranger who hath made smooth her sayings.
6 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,
For, at a window of my house, Through my casement I have looked out,
7 passing by the corner in the passages near her house,
And I do see among the simple ones, I discern among the sons, A young man lacking understanding,
8 and speaking, in the dark of the evening,
Passing on in the street, near her corner, And the way [to] her house he doth step,
9 when there happens [to be] the stillness of night and of darkness:
In the twilight — in the evening of day, In the darkness of night and blackness.
10 and the woman meets him having the appearance of a harlot, that causes the hearts of young men to flutter.
And, lo, a woman to meet him — (A harlot's dress, and watchful of heart,
11 And she is fickle, and debauched, and her feet abide not at home.
Noisy she [is], and stubborn, In her house her feet rest not.
12 For at one time she wanders without, and at [another] time she lies in wait in the streets, at every corner.
Now in an out-place, now in broad places, And near every corner she lieth in wait) —
13 Then she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said to him,
And she laid hold on him, and kissed him, She hath hardened her face, and saith to him,
14 I have a peace-offering; today I pay my vows:
'Sacrifices of peace-offerings [are] by me, To-day I have completed my vows.
15 therefore I came forth to meet you, desiring your face; [and] I have found you.
Therefore I have come forth to meet thee, To seek earnestly thy face, and I find thee.
16 I have spread my bed with sheets, and I have covered it with double tapestry from Egypt.
[With] ornamental coverings I decked my couch, Carved works — cotton of Egypt.
17 I have sprinkled my couch with saffron, and my house with cinnamon.
I sprinkled my bed — myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, and let us enjoy love until the morning; come, and let us embrace in love.
Come, we are filled [with] loves till the morning, We delight ourselves in loves.
19 For my husband is not at home, but is gone on a long journey,
For the man is not in his house, He hath gone on a long journey.
20 having taken in his hand a bundle of money: after many days he will return to his house.
A bag of money he hath taken in his hand, At the day of the new moon he cometh to his house.'
21 So with much converse she prevailed on him to go astray, and with the snares of her lips forced him from [the right path].
She turneth him aside with the abundance of her speech, With the flattery of her lips she forceth him.
22 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:
He is going after her straightway, As an ox unto the slaughter he cometh, And as a fetter unto the chastisement of a fool,
23 and he hastens as a bird into a snare, not knowing that he is running for [his] life.
Till an arrow doth split his liver, As a bird hath hastened unto a snare, And hath not known that it [is] for its life.
24 Now then, [my] son, listen to me, and attend to the words of my mouth.
And now, ye sons, hearken to me, And give attention to sayings of my mouth.
25 Let not your heart turn aside to her ways:
Let not thy heart turn unto her ways, Do not wander in her paths,
26 for she has wounded and cast down many, and those whom she has slain are innumerable.
For many [are] the wounded she caused to fall, And mighty [are] all her slain ones.
