7:1 My child, remember what I say and never forget what I tell you to do. |
7:2 Do what I say, and you will live. Be as careful to follow my teaching as you are to protect your eyes. |
7:3 Keep my teaching with you all the time; write it on your heart. |
7:4 Treat wisdom as your sister, and insight as your closest friend. |
7:5 They will keep you away from other men's wives, from women with seductive words. |
7:6 Once I was looking out the window of my house, |
7:7 and I saw many inexperienced young men, but noticed one foolish fellow in particular. |
7:8 He was walking along the street near the corner where a certain woman lived. He was passing near her house |
7:9 in the evening after it was dark. |
7:10 And then she met him; she was dressed like a prostitute and was making plans. |
7:11 She was a bold and shameless woman who always walked the streets |
7:12 or stood waiting at a corner, sometimes in the streets, sometimes in the marketplace. |
7:13 She threw her arms around the young man, kissed him, looked him straight in the eye, and said, |
7:14 "I made my offerings today and have the meat from the sacrifices. |
7:15 So I came out looking for you. I wanted to find you, and here you are! |
7:16 I've covered my bed with sheets of colored linen from Egypt. |
7:17 I've perfumed it with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. |
7:18 Come on! Let's make love all night long. We'll be happy in each other's arms. |
7:19 My husband isn't at home. He's on a long trip. |
7:20 He took plenty of money with him and won't be back for two weeks." |
7:21 So she tempted him with her charms, and he gave in to her smooth talk. |
7:22 Suddenly he was going with her like an ox on the way to be slaughtered, like a deer prancing into a trap |
7:23 where an arrow would pierce its heart. He was like a bird going into a net---he did not know that his life was in danger. |
7:24 Now then, sons, listen to me. Pay attention to what I say. |
7:25 Do not let such a woman win your heart; don't go wandering after her. |
7:26 She has been the ruin of many men and caused the death of too many to count. |
7:27 If you go to her house, you are on the way to the world of the dead. It is a shortcut to death. |