Proverbs 7
1 My son, accept what I say and value my instructions.
My son, heed my advice, and guard my instructions [as you would] [MET] [guard] a treasure.
2 Do what I tell you and you will live. Observe my teachings, valuing them as your main focus in life.
Obey my commands, and [as a result you will] live [a good life]. Consider the things that I teach you [to be very precious]; guard them, [just] like you protect your eyes.
3 Tie them to your fingers; write them in your mind.
Tie my commands around your fingers [in order that they will remind you to obey them]. Always keep them in mind [MET].
4 Tell wisdom, “You're my sister,” and call insight your best friend.
[Love] wisdom [like you love] your sister. Understand what is wise, [and let that be as dear to you as] members of your family.
5 They will protect you from the immoral woman, from the prostitute with her seductive words.
If you are wise and if you understand what is wise [PRS], you will not [sleep with] an immoral woman; you will not listen to a woman who tries to entice you [to sleep with her] by what she says.
6 One time I looked through the lattice of the window in my house,
One day, I was standing at the window inside my house, and I looked outside.
7 and I saw among the immature young men one who had no sense at all.
I saw some young men who did not have good sense. Among them was a man who was very foolish.
8 He was walking down the street near the corner where she lived and took the road passing her house.
He crossed the street near [the house of] an immoral woman. He was walking along the path toward her house
9 It was at dusk in the evening, as the light was fading and the dark night closed in.
at twilight, when it was getting dark [DOU].
10 Then out came a woman came to meet him. She was dressed as a prostitute and had deceptive intentions.
Suddenly the woman came out to see/meet him. She was dressed (seductively/like a prostitute), wanting to persuade him to sleep with her.
11 (She was loud and provocative, never wanting to stay at home.
She was a loud talker, one who was rebellious; she [SYN] never stayed 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.)
She often went into the city streets and plazas/markets, waiting to trap some man.
13 She grabbed hold of him and kissed him, and with a bold face she told him,
[When she saw that young man], she put her arms around him and kissed him. Then without being a bit ashamed, she said,
14 “I sacrificed my peace offering today, and paid my vows.
“I have [some meat that is left over from] a sacrifice that I made today [to maintain fellowship with Yahweh]; I have fulfilled/done what I promised him that I would do.
15 That's why I came out to meet you. I was looking for you and now I've found you!
And now I have come out to meet/see you. I was searching for you, and [now] I have found you!
16 My bed is made, covered with colorful linens from Egypt.
I have put on my bed sheets/bedspreads that were made from [very fine] linen [that were imported] {[people brought]} from Egypt.
17 I've sprinkled perfume on my bed—myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
I have sprinkled [sweet-smelling] perfumes on my bed— myrrh and aloes and cinnamon.
18 Come with me, let's make love until the morning. Let's enjoy one another in our love-making!
Come [with me]; let us enjoy having sex until [tomorrow] morning. Let’s enjoy making love.
19 My husband isn't home; he's gone on a long trip.
My husband is not at home; he has gone away on a long journey.
20 He took a bag of money with him, and he won't be coming back until the full moon.”
He is carrying a wallet filled with money, and he will not return until the middle of this month.”
21 She convinced him with all that she said; she seduced him with her smooth talking.
[So] she persuaded him by [her] enticing/tempting words. She allured him by her smooth/sweet talk.
22 He followed her right away, like an ox to the slaughter. Like a stag that's caught in a snare
[And] he went with her immediately, like an ox that was going to where it would be slaughtered, or like a deer (OR, a fool) that is stepping into a noose/trap,
23 until an arrow pierces its liver, like a bird flying into a trap, he's unaware he will pay with his life.
where it will remain/stay until someone shoots an arrow into its liver [and kills it]. [He was] like a bird that flew into a trap. He did not know that (it would cost him his life/he would die as a result).
24 So now listen to me, my sons, and pay attention to what I'm saying.
My son, listen to what I say; pay [careful] attention to my words.
25 Don't even think about following her. Don't stray down her road.
Do not allow anything to arouse/persuade you to go with an immoral woman like that. Do not go where she goes.
26 For she has brought down and destroyed a lot of men; she's killed so many.
She has caused many men to be ruined; truly, no one can count the men she has killed.
