< Proverbs 9 >
1 [It is as though] wisdom [is a woman who] has built a [big] house for herself, and has set up seven columns [to support the roof],
2 and has slaughtered an animal [and cooked the meat], and has mixed [nice spices] in the wine, and has put [the food] on the table.
3 [It is as though then] she sent out her servant women to call out from the highest place in the town,
4 “You people who need to understand more, come in!” And to those who are ignorant, [it is as though] she calls out,
5 “Come and eat the food that I [have prepared], and drink the [good] wine that I have mixed!
6 (Leave/Go away from) [other] foolish people, and [if you do that, you will continue to] live. Walk on the road that will enable you to (have knowledge/know what is true and what is not true).”
7 If you rebuke someone who will not allow others to correct him, he will insult you. If you reprove/scold an evil man, he will hurt you.
8 Do not rebuke someone who will not allow others to (correct him/tell him what he has done is wrong), because he will hate you for doing that. [But] if you rebuke a wise person, he will respect you.
9 If you give instruction to wise people, they will become wiser. And if you teach righteous people, they will learn more.
10 If you want to be wise, you must start by revering Yahweh, and if you know God, the Holy One, you will understand [which teachings are wise/true].
11 If you become wise, you will live many years [DOU].
12 If you are wise, you are the one who will benefit from it; if you ridicule [becoming wise], you are the one who will suffer.
13 Foolish women talk loudly; they are ignorant and are never ashamed [of the wrong things that they do].
14 They sit at the doors of their houses [or] they sit on the top [of the hills] in the town,
15 and they call out to the men who are passing by, who are trying to be concerned with their own affairs,
16 “You people who need to understand more, come into [my house]!” And to those who are ignorant, they call out,
17 “[Just as] water which you have stolen tastes very good and food that you eat by yourself tastes the best, [if you have sex secretly with someone to whom you are not married, you will enjoy it very much].”
18 But men who go to those women’s houses do not know that those who have gone there are now dead; they have descended down into the deepest parts of the place where dead people are. (Sheol )
