מִשְׁלֵי 7
| בני שמר אמרי ומצותי תצפן אתך׃ | 1 |
My son, guard my words and conceal my precepts within you.
| שמר מצותי וחיה ותורתי כאישון עיניך׃ | 2 |
Son, preserve my commandments, and you shall live. And keep my law as the pupil of your eye.
| קשרם על אצבעתיך כתבם על לוח לבך׃ | 3 |
Bind it with your fingers; write it on the tablets of your heart.
| אמר לחכמה אחתי את ומדע לבינה תקרא׃ | 4 |
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call prudence your friend.
| לשמרך מאשה זרה מנכריה אמריה החליקה׃ | 5 |
So may she guard you from the woman who is an outsider, and from the stranger who sweetens her words.
| כי בחלון ביתי בעד אשנבי נשקפתי׃ | 6 |
For I gaze from the window of my house, through the lattice,
| וארא בפתאים אבינה בבנים נער חסר לב׃ | 7 |
and I see little ones. I consider a frenzied youth,
| עבר בשוק אצל פנה ודרך ביתה יצעד׃ | 8 |
who crosses the street at the corner and close to the way of that house.
| בנשף בערב יום באישון לילה ואפלה׃ | 9 |
He steps into shadows, as day becomes evening, into the darkness and gloom of the night.
| והנה אשה לקראתו שית זונה ונצרת לב׃ | 10 |
And behold, a woman meets him, dressed like a harlot, prepared to captivate souls: chattering and rambling,
| המיה היא וסררת בביתה לא ישכנו רגליה׃ | 11 |
unwilling to bear silence, unable to keep her feet at home,
| פעם בחוץ פעם ברחבות ואצל כל פנה תארב׃ | 12 |
now outside, now in the streets, now lying in ambush near the corners.
| והחזיקה בו ונשקה לו העזה פניה ותאמר לו׃ | 13 |
And overtaking the youth, she kisses him, and with a provocative face, she flatters him, saying:
| זבחי שלמים עלי היום שלמתי נדרי׃ | 14 |
“I vowed sacrifices for well-being. Today I have repaid my vows.
| על כן יצאתי לקראתך לשחר פניך ואמצאך׃ | 15 |
Because of this, I have gone out to meet you, desiring to see you, and I have found you.
| מרבדים רבדתי ערשי חטבות אטון מצרים׃ | 16 |
I have woven my bed with cords. I have strewn it with embroidered tapestries from Egypt.
| נפתי משכבי מר אהלים וקנמון׃ | 17 |
I have sprinkled my bed with myrrh, aloe, and cinnamon.
| לכה נרוה דדים עד הבקר נתעלסה באהבים׃ | 18 |
Come, let us be inebriated in abundance, and let us delight in the embraces of desire, until the day begins to dawn.
| כי אין האיש בביתו הלך בדרך מרחוק׃ | 19 |
For my husband is not in his house. He has gone away on a very long journey.
| צרור הכסף לקח בידו ליום הכסא יבא ביתו׃ | 20 |
He took with him a bag of money. He will return to his house on the day of the full moon.”
| הטתו ברב לקחה בחלק שפתיה תדיחנו׃ | 21 |
She enmeshed him with many words, and she drew him forward with the flattery of her lips.
| הולך אחריה פתאם כשור אל טבח יבוא וכעכס אל מוסר אויל׃ | 22 |
Immediately, he follows her, like an ox being led to the sacrifice, and like a lamb acting lasciviously, and not knowing that he is being drawn foolishly into chains,
| עד יפלח חץ כבדו כמהר צפור אל פח ולא ידע כי בנפשו הוא׃ | 23 |
until the arrow pierces his liver. It is just as if a bird were to hurry into the snare. And he does not know that his actions endanger his own soul.
| ועתה בנים שמעו לי והקשיבו לאמרי פי׃ | 24 |
Therefore, my son, hear me now, and attend to the words of my mouth.
| אל ישט אל דרכיה לבך אל תתע בנתיבותיה׃ | 25 |
Do not let your mind be pulled into her ways. And do not be deceived by her paths.
| כי רבים חללים הפילה ועצמים כל הרגיה׃ | 26 |
For she has tossed aside many wounded, and some of those who were very strong have been slain by her.
