Proverbs 7
1 My son,
keep my words, and hide with thee my commandments.
1a My son,
honour the Lord, and thou shalt be strong; and fear none but him:
2 keep my commandments, and thou shalt
live; and keep my words as the pupils of
thine eyes.
3 And bind them on thy fingers, and
write them on the table of thine heart.
4 Say that wisdom is thy sister, and
gain prudence as an acquaintance for thyself;
5 that she may keep thee from the
strange and wicked woman, if she should assail thee with flattering words.
6 For she looks from a window out of
her house into the streets, at one whom she may see of the senseless ones, a
young man void of understanding,
7 passing by the corner in the
passages
aGr. of.near her house, 8 and speaking, in
the dark of the evening, 9 when there
happens to be the stillness of night and of darkness:
10 and the woman meets him having the
appearance of a harlot, that causes the hearts of young men to flutter.
11 And she is fickle, and debauched,
and her feet abide not at home.
12 For at one time she wanders
without, and at another time she lies in wait in the
streets, at every corner. 13 Then she
caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said to him,
14 I have a peace-offering; to-day I
pay my vows: 15 therefore I came
forth to meet thee, desiring thy face; and I have
found thee. 16 I have spread my bed
with sheets, and I have covered it with double tapestry from Egypt.
17 I have sprinkled my couch with
saffron, and my house with cinnamon.
18 Come, and let us enjoy love until
the morning; come, and let us embrace in love.
19 For my husband is not at home, but
is gone on a long journey, 20 having
taken in his hand a bundle of money: after many days he will return to his
house.
21 So with much converse she
prevailed on him to go astray, and with the snares of her lips she forced him
from the right path.
22 And he followed her, being gently
led on, and that as an ox is led to the slaughter,
and as a dog to bonds, or as a hart shot in the liver with an arrow:
23 and he hastens as a bird into a
snare, not knowing that he is running for his life.
24 Now then,
my son, hearken to me, and attend to the words of my
mouth. 25 Let not thine heart turn
aside to her ways:bAlex. + 'and stray not in her paths.'
26 for she has wounded and cast down
many, and those whom she has slain are innumerable.
27 Her house is the
cGr. ways.way of hell, leading down to the chambers of death.