Proverbs 7
1 My son, heed my advice, and guard my instructions [as you would] [MET] [guard] a treasure.
My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
2 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.
Keep my commandments and live, and my law as the apple of thine eye.
3 Tie my commands around your fingers [in order that they will remind you to obey them]. Always keep them in mind [MET].
Bind them upon thy fingers. Write them upon the tablet of thy heart.
4 [Love] wisdom [like you love] your sister. Understand what is wise, [and let that be as dear to you as] members of your family.
Say to wisdom, Thou are my sister, and call understanding thy kinswoman,
5 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.
that they may keep thee from the interloping woman, from the stranger who flatters with her words.
6 One day, I was standing at the window inside my house, and I looked outside.
For at the window of my house I looked forth through my lattice,
7 I saw some young men who did not have good sense. Among them was a man who was very foolish.
and I beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding
8 He crossed the street near [the house of] an immoral woman. He was walking along the path toward her house
passing through the street near her corner. And he went the way to her house,
9 at twilight, when it was getting dark [DOU].
in the twilight, in the evening of the day, in the middle of the night and in the darkness.
10 Suddenly the woman came out to see/meet him. She was dressed (seductively/like a prostitute), wanting to persuade him to sleep with her.
And, behold, there met him a woman attired like a harlot, and wily of heart.
11 She was a loud talker, one who was rebellious; she [SYN] never stayed at home.
She is loud and headstrong. Her feet abide not in her house.
12 She often went into the city streets and plazas/markets, waiting to trap some man.
Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places, and lies in wait at every corner.
13 [When she saw that young man], she put her arms around him and kissed him. Then without being a bit ashamed, she said,
So she caught him, and kissed him. With an impudent face she said to him,
14 “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.
Sacrifices of peace offerings are with me. I have paid my vows this day.
15 And now I have come out to meet/see you. I was searching for you, and [now] I have found you!
Therefore I came forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
16 I have put on my bed sheets/bedspreads that were made from [very fine] linen [that were imported] {[people brought]} from Egypt.
I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry, with striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt.
17 I have sprinkled [sweet-smelling] perfumes on my bed— myrrh and aloes and cinnamon.
I have perfumed my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come [with me]; let us enjoy having sex until [tomorrow] morning. Let’s enjoy making love.
Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning. Let us solace ourselves with love.
19 My husband is not at home; he has gone away on a long journey.
For the man is not at home. He has gone a long journey.
20 He is carrying a wallet filled with money, and he will not return until the middle of this month.”
He has taken a bag of money with him. He will come home at the full moon.
21 [So] she persuaded him by [her] enticing/tempting words. She allured him by her smooth/sweet talk.
With her much fair speech she causes him to yield. With the flattering of her lips she forces him along.
22 [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,
He goes after her straightaway, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks,
23 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).
till an arrow strikes through his liver, as a bird hastens to the snare. And he does not know that it is for his life.
24 My son, listen to what I say; pay [careful] attention to my words.
Now therefore, ye sons, hearken to me, and attend to the words of my mouth.
25 Do not allow anything to arouse/persuade you to go with an immoral woman like that. Do not go where she goes.
Let not thy heart decline to her ways. Go not astray in her paths.
26 She has caused many men to be ruined; truly, no one can count the men she has killed.
For she has cast down many wounded. Yea, all her slain are a mighty host.
