Proverbs 7
1 My son, accept what I say and value my instructions.
[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:
2 Do what I tell you and you will live. Observe my teachings, valuing them as your main focus in life.
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 in your mind.
And bind them on your fingers, and write [them] on the table of your heart.
4 Tell wisdom, “You're my sister,” and call insight your best friend.
Say that wisdom is your sister, and gain prudence as an acquaintance for yourself;
5 They will protect you from the immoral woman, from the prostitute with her seductive words.
that she may keep you from the strange and wicked woman, if she should assail you with flattering words.
6 One time I looked through the lattice of the window in my house,
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 and I saw among the immature young men one who had no sense at all.
passing by the corner in the passages near her house,
8 He was walking down the street near the corner where she lived and took the road passing her house.
and speaking, in the dark of the evening,
9 It was at dusk in the evening, as the light was fading and the dark night closed in.
when there happens [to be] the stillness of night and of darkness:
10 Then out came a woman came to meet him. She was dressed as a prostitute and had deceptive intentions.
and the woman meets him having the appearance of a harlot, that causes the hearts of young men to flutter.
11 (She was loud and provocative, never wanting to stay at home.
And she is fickle, and debauched, and her feet abide not at home.
12 One moment she'd be walking the streets, the next she'd be there in the town squares, loitering 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 grabbed hold of him and kissed him, and with a bold face she told him,
Then she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said to him,
14 “I sacrificed my peace offering today, and paid my vows.
I have a peace-offering; today I pay my vows:
15 That's why I came out to meet you. I was looking for you and now I've found you!
therefore I came forth to meet you, desiring your face; [and] I have found you.
16 My bed is made, covered with colorful linens from Egypt.
I have spread my bed with sheets, and I have covered it with double tapestry from Egypt.
17 I've sprinkled perfume on my bed—myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
I have sprinkled my couch with saffron, and my house with cinnamon.
18 Come with me, let's make love until the morning. Let's enjoy one another in our love-making!
Come, and let us enjoy love until the morning; come, and let us embrace in love.
19 My husband isn't home; he's gone on a long trip.
For my husband is not at home, but is gone on a long journey,
20 He took a bag of money with him, and he won't be coming back until the full moon.”
having taken in his hand a bundle of money: after many days he will return to his house.
21 She convinced him with all that she said; she seduced him with her smooth talking.
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 followed her right away, like an ox to the slaughter. Like a stag that's caught in a snare
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 its liver, like a bird flying into a trap, he's unaware he will pay with his life.
and he hastens as a bird into a snare, not knowing that he is running for [his] life.
24 So now listen to me, my sons, and pay attention to what I'm saying.
Now then, [my] son, listen to me, and attend to the words of my mouth.
25 Don't even think about following her. Don't stray down her road.
Let not your heart turn aside to her ways:
26 For she has brought down and destroyed a lot of men; she's killed so many.
for she has wounded and cast down many, and those whom she has slain are innumerable.
