7:1 My son, keep my words And treasure my commandments within you. |
7:2 Keep my commandments and live, And my teaching as the apple of your eye. |
7:3 Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart. |
7:4 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister, And call understanding {your} intimate friend;" |
7:5 That they may keep you from an adulteress, From the foreigner who flatters with her words. |
7:6 For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice, |
7:7 And I saw among the naive, {And} discerned among the youths A young man lacking sense, |
7:8 Passing through the street near her corner; And he takes the way to her house, |
7:9 In the twilight, in the evening, In the middle of the night and {in} the darkness. |
7:10 And behold, a woman {comes} to meet him, Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart. |
7:11 She is boisterous and rebellious, Her feet do not remain at home; |
7:12 {She is} now in the streets, now in the squares, And lurks by every corner. |
7:13 So she seizes him and kisses him And with a brazen face she says to him: |
7:14 "I was due to offer peace offerings; Today I have paid my vows. |
7:15 "Therefore I have come out to meet you, To seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you. |
7:16 "I have spread my couch with coverings, With colored linens of Egypt. |
7:17 "I have sprinkled my bed With myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. |
7:18 "Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with caresses. |
7:19 "For my husband is not at home, He has gone on a long journey; |
7:20 He has taken a bag of money with him, At the full moon he will come home." |
7:21 With her many persuasions she entices him; With her flattering lips she seduces him. |
7:22 Suddenly he follows her As an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as {one in} fetters to the discipline of a fool, |
7:23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver; As a bird hastens to the snare, So he does not know that it {will cost him} his life. |
7:24 Now therefore, {my} sons, listen to me, And pay attention to the words of my mouth. |
7:25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her paths. |
7:26 For many are the victims she has cast down, And numerous are all her slain. |
7:27 Her house is the way to Sheol, Descending to the chambers of death. |