Admonition to Avoid the Wiles of the Adulteress

1My child, keep my words

and treasure up my commands in your own keeping.

2Keep my commands so that you may live,

and obey my instruction as your most prized possession.

3Bind them on your forearm;

write them on the tablet of your heart.

4Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

and call understanding a close relative,

5so that they may keep you from the adulterous woman,

from the loose woman who flatters you with her words.

6For at the window of my house

through my window lattice I looked out

7and I saw among the naive –

I discerned among the youths –

a young man who lacked wisdom.

8He was passing by the street near her corner,

making his way along the road to her house

9in the twilight, the evening,

in the dark of the night.

10Suddenly a woman came out to meet him!

She was dressed like a prostitute and with secret intent.

11(She is loud and rebellious,

she does not remain at home –

12at one time outside, at another in the wide plazas,

and by every corner she lies in wait.)

13So she grabbed him and kissed him,

and with a bold expression she said to him,

14“I have fresh meat at home;

today I have fulfilled my vows!

15That is why I came out to meet you,

to look for you, and I found you!

16I have spread my bed with elegant coverings,

with richly colored fabric from Egypt.

17I have perfumed my bed

with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

18Come, let’s drink deeply of lovemaking until morning,

let’s delight ourselves with sexual intercourse.

19For my husband is not at home;

he has gone on a journey of some distance.

20He has taken a bag of money with him;

he will not return until the end of the month.”

21She persuaded him with persuasive words;

with her smooth talk she compelled him.

22Suddenly he went after her

like an ox that goes to the slaughter,

like a stag prancing into a trapper’s snare

23till an arrow pierces his liver –

like a bird hurrying into a trap,

and he does not know that it will cost him his life.

24So now, sons, listen to me,

and pay attention to the words I speak.

25Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways –

do not wander into her pathways;

26for she has brought down many fatally wounded,

and all those she has slain are many.

27Her house is the way to the grave,

going down to the chambers of death.