Proverbs 7
1 My son, keep my sayings, and, my commandments, treasure by thee;
My son, heed my advice, and guard my instructions [as you would] [MET] [guard] a treasure.
2 Keep my commandments and live, and mine instruction, as the pupil of thine eye;
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 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them, on the tablet of thy 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 unto wisdom, My sister, thou! and, an acquaintance, call thou, understanding:
[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 thou mayest be kept, from the woman that is a stranger, from the female unknown, who, with her speeches, doth flatter.
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, in the window of my house, through my lattice, I looked out;
One day, I was standing at the window inside my house, and I looked outside.
7 And saw among the simple ones, discerned among the youths, A young man lacking sense;
I saw some young men who did not have good sense. Among them was a man who was very foolish.
8 Passing through the street, near her corner, and, on the way to her house, he sauntered along;
He crossed the street near [the house of] an immoral woman. He was walking along the path toward her house
9 In the twilight, in the evening of the day, in the midst of the night, and the gloom;
at twilight, when it was getting dark [DOU].
10 And lo! a woman, came to meet him, attired as one unchaste, of a wily heart.
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 Boisterous, is she, and rebellious, In her house, abide not her feet;
She was a loud talker, one who was rebellious; she [SYN] never stayed at home.
12 Now outside, now in the broadways, and, near every corner, she lieth in wait:
She often went into the city streets and plazas/markets, waiting to trap some man.
13 So she caught him, and kissed him, and, embolding her face, she 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 Peace-offerings, are by me, to-day, have I 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 For this cause, came I forth to meet thee, to seek diligently thy face, and I have found thee:
And now I have come out to meet/see you. I was searching for you, and [now] I have found you!
16 Coverlets, have I spread on my couch of pleasure, dark-hued stuffs, of the yarn of 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 bed, with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon:
I have sprinkled [sweet-smelling] perfumes on my bed— myrrh and aloes and cinnamon.
18 Come! let us take our fill of endearments, until morning, let us delight ourselves with caresses;
Come [with me]; let us enjoy having sex until [tomorrow] morning. Let’s enjoy making love.
19 For the husband is not in his house, he hath gone on a journey afar;
My husband is not at home; he has gone away on a long journey.
20 A bag of silver, hath he taken in his hand, On the day of the full moon, will he enter his house.
He is carrying a wallet filled with money, and he will not return until the middle of this month.”
21 She turneth him aside, with her great persuasiveness, —with the flattery of her lips, she compelleth him:
[So] she persuaded him by [her] enticing/tempting words. She allured him by her smooth/sweet talk.
22 Going after her instantly, as an ox, to the slaughter, he entereth, and, as in fetters, unto the correction of a fool.
[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 cleaveth his liver, as a bird hasteth into a snare, and knoweth not, that, for his life, it is!
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, therefore, ye sons, hearken unto me, and attend, to the sayings of my mouth;
My son, listen to what I say; pay [careful] attention to my words.
25 Let not thy heart, turn aside to her ways, Do not go astray, in her paths.
Do not allow anything to arouse/persuade you to go with an immoral woman like that. Do not go where she goes.
26 For, many, wounded, hath she caused to fall, —yea strong men, slain wholly by her:
She has caused many men to be ruined; truly, no one can count the men she has killed.
