Chapter Seven

My son, obey my words and keep my instructions in mind.  Obey my commandments and you will live; regard my teachings as a treasured possession.  Keep them at your fingerprints; inscribe them upon the scroll of your mind.  Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and make understanding a member of the family.  They will defend you from the adulteress. from the exotic temptress with her seductive words.

From the window of my house I peered through the lattice and saw among the callow youths, a young man who had no sense.  He was walking down the street to the corner, on the way to her house.  Whether at dusk, or in the evening, or in the middle of the night, it was under the cover of darkness that this woman came out to greet him, she, dressed like a prostitute and intent on seducing him.  She was brash and defiant.  Never content to stay at home, she is always out on the streets and in the city squares, soliciting on every corner. 

She grabbed and kissed him and, with a brazen look, spoke to him, “I have made the peace offerings and have fulfilled my vows.  Now, hungry to see your face, I have come out to look for you.  And I have found you!  I have draped my couch with covers of richly dyed linen from Egypt.  I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.  Come let us drink our fill of love till morning and find pleasure with each other in lovemaking.  My husband is not at home.  He’s gone on a long trip.  He’s taken his purse full of money with him and won’t come home again till the moon is full.”

She won him over with her enticing speech and seduced him with her flattery.  He followed her at once, like a steer going to the slaughter, like a stag held fast in a trap until an arrow pierces his heart, like a bird flying into a snare, not knowing it will cost him his life.

Now then, my sons, pay attention to what I say.  Let not your heart be seduced by her ways.  Do not stray down her path.  She has been the ruin of many men; her many victims are a mighty army.  Her house is the way to the grave, going down to the chambers of death.