Proverbs 7:6–27

⁶For ^aat the window of my house

I looked out ^bthrough my lattice,

⁷And I saw among the ^1anaive,

And discerned among the ²youths

A young man ^blacking ³sense,

⁸Passing through the street near ^aher corner;

And he ¹takes the way to ^bher house,

⁹In the ^atwilight, in the ¹evening,

In the ²middle of the night and in the darkness.

¹⁰And behold, a woman comes to meet him,

^aDressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.

¹¹She is ^aboisterous and rebellious,

Her ^bfeet do not remain at home;

¹²She is now in the streets, now ^ain the squares,

And ^blurks by every corner.

¹³So she seizes him and kisses him

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

¹⁴“¹I was due to offer ^apeace offerings;

Today I have ^bpaid my vows.

¹⁵“Therefore I have come out to meet you,

To seek your presence 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, let us drink our fill of love until morning;

Let us delight ourselves with caresses.

¹⁹“For ¹my husband is not at home,

He has gone on a long journey;

²⁰He has taken a ^abag of money ¹with him,

At the full moon he will come home.”

²¹With her many persuasions she entices him;

With her ^1aflattering lips she seduces him.

²²Suddenly he follows her

As an ox goes to the slaughter,

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

²³Until an arrow pierces through his liver;

As a ^abird hastens to the snare,

So he does not know that it will cost him his life.

²⁴Now therefore, my sons, ^alisten to me,

And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

²⁵Do not let your heart ^aturn aside to her ways,

Do not stray into her paths.

²⁶For many are the ¹victims she has cast down,

And ^anumerous are all her slain.

²⁷Her ^ahouse is the way to Sheol,

Descending to the chambers of death.