Proverbs 7

CHAPTER 7

The Adulteress’ Trap

¹My son, ^akeep my words

And treasure my commandments within you.

^2aKeep my commandments and live,

And my ¹law ^bas the ²apple of your eye.

^3aBind them on your fingers;

^bWrite them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

And call understanding your intimate friend;

⁵In order to keep you from the strange woman,

From the foreign woman who ¹flatters with her words.

⁶For ^aat the window of my house

I looked out ^bthrough my lattice,

⁷And I saw among the ^asimple,

And discerned among the ¹sons

A young man ^blacking a heart of wisdom,

⁸Passing through the street near ^aher corner;

And he strides along the way to ^bher house,

⁹In the ^atwilight, in the evening of that day,

In the ¹middle of the night, and in the thick darkness.

¹⁰And behold, a woman comes to meet him,

^aDressed as a harlot and ¹cunning of heart.

¹¹She is ^aboisterous and rebellious,

Her ^bfeet do not dwell at home;

¹²Stepping in the streets, stepping ^ain the squares,

And near every corner she ^blies in wait.

¹³So she seizes him and kisses him

¹And with a ^abrazen face she says to him:

¹⁴“The sacrifices of ^apeace offerings are with me;

Today I ^bpaid my vows.

¹⁵“Therefore I have come out to meet you,

To seek your face earnestly, and I have found you.

¹⁶“I have spread my couch with ^acoverings,

With colored ^blinens of Egypt.

¹⁷“I have sprinkled my bed

With ^amyrrh, aloes, and ^bcinnamon.

¹⁸“Come, then, let us drink our fill as lovers until morning;

Let us delight ourselves with the pleasures of love.

¹⁹“For ¹my husband is not at home,

He has gone on a journey far away;

²⁰He took a ^abag of silver in his hand,

On the day of the full moon he will come home.”

²¹With her abundant ¹persuasions she entices him;

With her ^aflattering lips she drives him to herself.

²²He suddenly follows her

As an ox goes to the slaughter,

Or ¹as one in fetters to the discipline of an ignorant fool,

²³Until an arrow pierces through his liver;

As a ^abird hastens to the snare,

And he does not know that it will cost him his ¹soul.

²⁴So now, my sons, ^alisten to me,

And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

²⁵Do not let your heart ^ago astray into her ways,

Do not wander into her pathways.

²⁶For many are the slain whom she has cast down,

And ^anumerous are all those killed by her.

²⁷The ways to Sheol are in her ^ahouse,

Descending to the chambers of death.