Proverbs 7

1My son, hold on to what I say, and keep my commands safe like treasure. 2Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teaching as carefully as the pupil of your eye. 3Tie them around your fingers; inscribe them on your heart as on a tablet. 4Tell wisdom, “You are my sister,” and give understanding the name of dearest friend, 5so that they keep you from the woman who is not yours, the outsider with her flattering words. 6Once, from the window of my house, I looked down through the lattice, 7and among the naive I saw, among the young men I noticed, a youth with no sense, 8walking down the street near her corner, stepping out along the road to her house, 9at dusk, as the day turned to evening, as the black of night came on. 10Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed as a prostitute, her mind full of schemes. 11She is loud and unruly; her feet never stay at home. 12One moment she is out in the street, the next in the squares, waiting in ambush at every corner. 13She grabs him and kisses him, and with a brazen face she tells him, 14“I had peace offerings to make, and today I have kept my vows. 15That is why I came out looking for you; I was eager to see you, and here you are! 16I have spread my couch with covers, with colored sheets of Egyptian linen. 17I have scented my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. 18Come, let us drink deep of love until morning and take our pleasure in lovemaking. 19The man of the house is away; he has gone on a long trip. 20He took a bag of money with him and will not be home until the full moon.” 21With all her powers of persuasion she wins him over; with her smooth talk she pushes him on. 22All at once he is following her, like an ox on its way to be slaughtered, like a fool in fetters on the way to punishment, 23until an arrow splits his liver; like a bird rushing into a snare, he has no idea it will cost him his life.

24So now, sons, listen to me; pay close attention to what I say. 25Do not let your heart drift toward her ways or stray onto her paths, 26for she has brought down many victims, and those she has killed are without number. 27Her house is the highway into Sheol, sloping down to the rooms of death.