NETtext - Proverbs - 7

7:1  My child, keep my words and treasure up my commands in your own keeping.

7:2  Keep my commands so that you may live, and obey my instruction as your most prized possession.

7:3  Bind them on your forearm; write them on the tablet of your heart.

7:4  Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," and call understanding a close relative,

7:5  so that they may keep you from the adulterous woman, from the loose woman who flatters you with her words.

7:6  For at the window of my house through my window lattice I looked out

7:7  and I saw among the naive - I discerned among the youths - a young man who lacked wisdom.

7:8  He was passing by the street near her corner, making his way along the road to her house

7:9  in the twilight, the evening, in the dark of the night.

7:10  Suddenly a woman came out to meet him! She was dressed like a prostitute and with secret intent.

7:11  (She is loud and rebellious, she does not remain at home -

7:12  at one time outside, at another in the wide plazas, and by every corner she lies in wait.)

7:13  So she grabbed him and kissed him, and with a bold expression she said to him,

7:14  "I have fresh meat at home; today I have fulfilled my vows!

7:15  That is why I came out to meet you, to look for you, and I found you!

7:16  I have spread my bed with elegant coverings, with richly colored fabric from Egypt.

7:17  I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

7:18  Come, let's drink deeply of lovemaking until morning, let's delight ourselves with sexual intercourse.

7:19  For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a journey of some distance.

7:20  He has taken a bag of money with him; he will not return until the end of the month."

7:21  She persuaded him with persuasive words; with her smooth talk she compelled him.

7:22  Suddenly he went after her like an ox that goes to the slaughter, like a stag prancing into a trapper's snare

7:23  till an arrow pierces his liver - like a bird hurrying into a trap, and he does not know that it will cost him his life.

7:24  So now, sons, listen to me, and pay attention to the words I speak.

7:25  Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways - do not wander into her pathways;

7:26  for she has brought down many fatally wounded, and all those she has slain are many.

7:27  Her house is the way to the grave, going down to the chambers of death.