Proverbs 6:20–7:27
Commandment and Instruction as Guardians
20 My child, keep the commandment of your father,
and do not disregard the instruction of your mother.
21 Bind them on your heart continually;
tie them upon your neck.
22 ⌊When you walk⌋,k shel will lead you,
⌊When you lie down⌋,m she will watch over you,
and when you awake, she will converse with you.
23 For like a lamp is a commandment, and instruction is light,
and the way of lifen is the reproof of discipline,
24 in order to preserve you from an evil woman,o
from the smoothness of the tongue of ⌊an adulteress⌋.p
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart;
may she not capture you with her eyelashes.
26 For the price of a woman, a prostitute,q is the price of a loaf of bread,
but the ⌊woman belonging to a man⌋r hunts precious life.
Warning Against Relations with a Married Woman
27 Can a man carry fire in his lap,
and his clothes not burn?
28 If a man walks upon the hot coals,
will his feet not be burned?
29 Thus, he who goes to the wife of his neighbor,
any who touches her shall not go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief when he steals
to fill himselfs when he is hungry.
31 But if he is found, he will pay sevenfold,
every possession of his house he shall give.
32 He who commits adultery with a woman lacks ⌊sense⌋,t
he destroys himselfu who does it.
33 A wound and dishonor he will find,
and his disgrace will not be wiped out.
34 For jealousy is the fury of a husband,
and he will not show restraint on the day of revenge.
35 He will not accept ⌊any compensation⌋,v
and he will not be willing, though the bribe is large.
Warning Against the Strange Woman
7 My child, guard my sayings;
store my commandments with you.
and my teaching like the ⌊apple of your eye⌋.a
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom,b “you are my sister,”
and you shall call insight,c “⌊intimate friend⌋.”d
5 In order to guard yourself from ⌊an adulteress⌋,e
from the foreigner who ⌊makes her words smooth⌋.f
6 For at the window of my house,
through my lattice, I looked down.
I observed among the youth,
a young man lacking ⌊sense⌋,g
8 passing on the street ⌊at⌋h her corner,
and he takes the road to her house,
9 at twilight, at the day’s evening,
in the midst of night and the darkness.
10 Then behold! A woman comes to meet him
with the garment of a prostitutei and ⌊a secret heart⌋.j
her feet do not stay at her house.
12 Now in the street, now in the square,
⌊at⌋k every corner she lies in wait.
13 She took hold of l him and kissed him.
Her face was impudent, and she said to him,
14 “Sacrifices of peace offerings are upon me;
⌊today⌋m I completed my vows.
15 Son I have come out to meet you,
to seek your face, and I have found you.
16 With coverings I have adorned my couch,
spreads of the linen of Egypt;
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love making,
until the morning let us delight in love.
19 For there is no mano in his home;
he has gone on a ⌊long journey⌋.p
20 The bag of money he took in his hand,
for on the day of the full moon he will come home.”
21 She persuades him with the greatness of her teachings;
with her smooth lips she compels him.
22 He goes after her suddenly;
like an ox to the slaughter he goes,
and like a stag to the instruction of a fool,
23 until an arrow pierces his ⌊entrails⌋,q
like a bird rushing into a snare,
but he does not know that ⌊it will cost him his life⌋.r
Reiteration of the Warning Against a Strange Woman
24 And now, my children, listen to me,
and be attentive to the sayings of my mouth.
25 May your heart not turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her path.
26 For many slain she has laid low,
and countlesss are all of her killings.
27 The ways of Sheolt are her house,
descending to chambers of death.