Proverbs 7
1 [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:
My son, heed my advice, and guard my instructions [as you would] [MET] [guard] a treasure.
2 keep my commandments, and you shall live; and [keep] my words as the pupils of [your] eyes.
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 And bind them on your fingers, and write [them] on the table of your heart.
Tie my commands around your fingers [in order that they will remind you to obey them]. Always keep them in mind [MET].
4 Say that wisdom is your sister, and gain prudence as an acquaintance for yourself;
[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 that she may keep you from the strange and wicked woman, if she should assail you with flattering 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 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,
One day, I was standing at the window inside my house, and I looked outside.
7 passing by the corner in the passages near her house,
I saw some young men who did not have good sense. Among them was a man who was very foolish.
8 and speaking, in the dark of the evening,
He crossed the street near [the house of] an immoral woman. He was walking along the path toward her house
9 when there happens [to be] the stillness of night and of darkness:
at twilight, when it was getting dark [DOU].
10 and the woman meets him having the appearance of a harlot, that causes the hearts of young men to flutter.
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 And she is fickle, and debauched, and her feet abide not at home.
She was a loud talker, one who was rebellious; she [SYN] never stayed at home.
12 For at one time she wanders without, and at [another] time she lies in wait in the streets, at every corner.
She often went into the city streets and plazas/markets, waiting to trap some man.
13 Then she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said to 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 have a peace-offering; today I pay 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 therefore I came forth to meet you, desiring your face; [and] I have found you.
And now I have come out to meet/see you. I was searching for you, and [now] I have found you!
16 I have spread my bed with sheets, and I have covered it with double tapestry 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 have sprinkled my couch with saffron, and my house with cinnamon.
I have sprinkled [sweet-smelling] perfumes on my bed— myrrh and aloes and cinnamon.
18 Come, and let us enjoy love until the morning; come, and let us embrace in love.
Come [with me]; let us enjoy having sex until [tomorrow] morning. Let’s enjoy making love.
19 For my husband is not at home, but is gone on a long journey,
My husband is not at home; he has gone away on a long journey.
20 having taken in his hand a bundle of money: after many days he will return to his house.
He is carrying a wallet filled with money, and he will not return until the middle of this month.”
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].
[So] she persuaded him by [her] enticing/tempting words. She allured him by her smooth/sweet talk.
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:
[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 and he hastens as a bird into a snare, not knowing that he is running for [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 Now then, [my] son, listen to me, and attend to the words of my mouth.
My son, listen to what I say; pay [careful] attention to my words.
25 Let not your heart turn aside to her ways:
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 wounded and cast down many, and those whom she has slain are innumerable.
She has caused many men to be ruined; truly, no one can count the men she has killed.
