Chapter 7

1My son, heed my words;And store up my commandments with you.

2Keep my commandments and live,My teaching, as the apple of your eye.

3Bind them on your fingers;Write them on the tablet of your mind.

4Say to Wisdom, “You are my sister,”And call Understanding a kinswoman.

5She will guard you from a forbiddena woman;From an alien woman whose talk is smooth.

6From the window of my house,Through my lattice, I looked out

7And saw among the simple,Noticed among the youths,A lad devoid of sense.

8He was crossing the street near her corner,Walking toward her house

9In the dusk of evening,In the dark hours of night.

10A woman comes toward himbDressed like a harlot, with set purpose.

11She is bustling and restive;She is never at home.

12Now in the street, now in the square,She lurks at every corner.

13She lays hold of him and kisses him;Brazenly she says to him,

14“I had to make a sacrifice of well-being;Today I fulfilled my vows.

15Therefore I have come out to you,Seeking you, and have found you.

16I have decked my couch with coversOf dyed Egyptian linen;

17I have sprinkled my bedWith myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

18Let us drink our fill of love till morning;Let us delight in amorous embrace.

19For the man of the house is away;He is off on a distant journey.

20He took his bag of money with himAnd will return only at mid-month.”

21She sways him with her eloquence,Turns him aside with her smooth talk.

22Thoughtlessly he follows her,Like an ox going to the slaughter,bLike a fool to the stocks for punishment—

23Until the arrow pierces his liver.He is like a bird rushing into a trap,Not knowing his life is at stake.

24Now, sons, listen to me;Pay attention to my words;

25Let your mind not wander down her ways;Do not stray onto her paths.

26For many are those she has struck dead,And numerous are her victims.

27Her house is a highway to SheolLeading down to Death’s inner chambers.