Proverbs
3 Tie them around your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.+
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call understanding “my relative,”
6 From the window of my house,
Through my lattice, I looked down,
7 And as I observed the naive* ones,
I discerned among the youths a young man lacking good sense.*+
8 He passed along the street near her corner,
And he marched in the direction of her house
9 In the twilight, in the evening,+
At the approach of night and darkness.
11 She is loud and defiant.+
She never stays* at home.
12 One moment she is outside, next she is in the public squares,
She lurks near every corner.+
13 She grabs hold of him and gives him a kiss;
With a bold face, she says to him:
14 “I had to offer communion sacrifices.+
Today I paid my vows.
15 That is why I came out to meet you,
To look for you, and I found you!
16 I have spread fine covers upon my bed,
Colorful linen from Egypt.+
17 I have sprinkled my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.+
18 Come, let us drink our fill of love until the morning;
Let us enjoy passionate love together,
19 For my husband is not at home;
He has gone on a distant journey.
20 He took a bag of money with him,
And he will not return until the day of the full moon.”
21 She misleads him with great persuasiveness.+
She seduces him with smooth speech.
22 Suddenly he goes after her, like a bull to the slaughter,
Like a fool to be punished in the stocks,*+
23 Until an arrow pierces his liver;
Like a bird rushing into a trap, he does not know that it will cost him his life.*+
24 And now, my sons, listen to me;
Pay attention to the words I speak.
25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways.
Do not stray onto her paths,+
26 For she has caused many to fall down slain,+
And those she has killed are numerous.+
27 Her house leads to the Grave;*
It goes down to the inner chambers of death.