7 My son, obey my words,
and treasure my commands.(A)
2 Keep my commands and live;(B)
protect my teachings
as the pupil of your eye.(C)
3 Tie them to your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.(D)
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”(E)
and call understanding your relative.
5 She will keep you from a forbidden woman,
a stranger with her flattering talk.(F)
A Story of Seduction
6 At the window of my house
I looked through my lattice.(G)
7 I saw among the inexperienced,[a]
I noticed among the youths,
a young man lacking sense.
8 Crossing the street near her corner,
he strolled down the road to her house
9 at twilight, in the evening,
in the dark of the night.(H)
10 A woman came to meet him
dressed like a prostitute,(I)
having a hidden agenda.[b]
11 She is loud and defiant;(J)
her feet do not stay at home.(K)
12 Now in the street, now in the squares,(L)
she lurks at every corner.(M)
13 She grabs him and kisses him;
she brazenly says[c] to him,
14 “I’ve made fellowship offerings;[d]
today I’ve fulfilled my vows.(N)
15 So I came out to meet you,
to search for you, and I’ve found you.
16 I’ve spread coverings on my bed(O)—
richly colored linen from Egypt.(P)
17 I’ve perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.(Q)
18 Come, let’s drink deeply of lovemaking until morning.(R)
Let’s feast on each other’s love!
19 My husband isn’t home;
he went on a long journey.
20 He took a bag of money with him
and will come home at the time of the full moon.”
21 She seduces him with her persistent pleading;
she lures with her flattering[e] talk.
22 He follows her impulsively
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer bounding toward a trap[f]
23 until an arrow pierces its[g] liver,(S)
like a bird darting into a snare(T)—
he doesn’t know it will cost him his life.
24 Now, my sons, listen to me,
and pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25 Don’t let your heart turn aside to her ways;
don’t stray onto her paths.(U)
26 For she has brought many down to death;
her victims are countless.[h]
27 Her house is the road to Sheol,
descending to the chambers of death.(V)
Footnotes
- Proverbs 7:7 Or simple, or gullible, or naive
- Proverbs 7:10 Or prostitute with a guarded heart
- Proverbs 7:13 Lit she makes her face strong and says
- Proverbs 7:14 Meat from a fellowship offering had to be eaten on the day it was offered; therefore she is inviting him to a feast at her house.
- Proverbs 7:21 Lit smooth
- Proverbs 7:22 Text emended; MT reads like a shackle to the discipline of a fool; Hb obscure
- Proverbs 7:23 Or his
- Proverbs 7:26 Or and powerful men are all her victims
Cross references
- 7:1 : Pr 2:1
- 7:2 : Pr 3:1-2; 4:4; 6:23; 19:16
- 7:2 : Dt 32:10; Ps 17:8; Zch 2:8
- 7:3 : Dt 11:18; Pr 3:3; 6:21
- 7:4 : Sg 4:9
- 7:5 : Pr 5:3, 20; 6:24; 7:21
- 7:6 : Jdg 5:28; Sg 2:9
- 7:9 : Jb 24:15
- 7:10 : Gn 38:14-15
- 7:11 : Pr 9:13
- 7:11 : 1Tm 5:13
- 7:12 : Pr 5:16; 9:14
- 7:12 : Pr 23:28
- 7:14 : Lv 7:11-18; Dt 23:18; Ps 56:12
- 7:16 : Pr 31:22
- 7:16 : Ezk 27:7
- 7:17 : Ex 30:23; Ps 45:8
- 7:18 : Sg 5:1
- 7:21-23 : Pr 2:16-19; 5:3-6; 23:27-28
- 7:23 : Ec 9:12
- 7:25 : Pr 5:8
- 7:27 : Pr 2:18; 5:5; 9:18; 1Co 6:9; Rv 22:15