Proverbs 7-10
Common English Bible
Avoid loose women
7 My son, keep my words;
store up my commands within you.
2 Keep my commands and live,
and my instruction like the pupil of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister”;
call understanding “friend,”
5 so she might guard you against the mysterious woman,
from the foreign woman who flatters you.
6 When from the window of my house,
from behind the screen, I gazed down,
7 I looked among the naive young men
and noticed among the youth, one who had no sense.
8 He was crossing the street at her corner
and walked down the path to her house
9 in the early evening,
at the onset of night and darkness.
10 All of a sudden a woman approaches him,
dressed like a prostitute and with a cunning mind.
11 She is noisy and defiant;
her feet don’t stay long in her own house.
12 She has one foot in the street, one foot in the public square.
She lies in wait at every corner.
13 She grabs him and kisses him.
Her face is brazen as she speaks to him:
14 “I’ve made a sacrifice of well-being;
today I fulfilled my solemn promises.
15 So I’ve come out to meet you,
seeking you, and I have found you.
16 I’ve spread my bed with luxurious covers,
with colored linens from Egypt.
17 I’ve sprinkled my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink deep of love until morning;
let’s savor our lovemaking.
19 For my husband isn’t home;
he’s gone far away.
20 He took a pouch of money with him;
he won’t come home till full moon.”
21 She seduces him with all her talk.
She entices him with her flattery.
22 He goes headlong after her,
like an ox to the slaughter,
like a deer leaping into a trap,[a]
23 until an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird hurrying to the snare,
not aware that it will cost him his life.
24 Now children, listen to me,
and pay attention to my speech.
25 Don’t turn your heart to her ways;
don’t wander down her paths.
26 She has caused many corpses to fall;
she has killed many people.
27 Her house is a path to the grave,[b]
going down to the chambers of death.
Wisdom’s autobiography
8 Doesn’t Wisdom cry out
and Understanding shout?
2 Atop the heights along the path,
at the crossroads she takes her stand.
3 By the gate before the city,
at the entrances she shouts:
4 I cry out to you, people;
my voice goes out to all of humanity.
5 Understand skill, you who are naive.
Take this to heart, you fools.
6 Listen, for I speak things that are correct;
from my lips comes what is right.
7 My mouth utters the truth;
my lips despise wickedness.
8 All the words of my mouth are righteous;
nothing in them is twisted or crooked.
9 All of them are straightforward to those who understand,
and upright for the knowledgeable.
10 Take my instruction rather than silver,
knowledge rather than choice gold.
11 Wisdom is better than pearls;
nothing is more delightful than she.
12 I, Wisdom, dwell with prudence;
I have found knowledge and discretion.
13 To fear the Lord is to hate evil.
I hate pride and arrogance,
the path of evil and corrupt speech.
14 I have advice and ability,
as well as understanding and strength.
15 By me kings rule,
and princes issue righteous decrees.
16 By me rulers govern,
and officials judge righteously.[c]
17 I love those who love me;
those who seek me will find me.
18 Riches and honor are with me,
as well as enduring wealth and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold;
my crops are better than choice silver.
20 I walk on the way of righteousness,
on the paths of justice,
21 to provide for those who love me
and to fill up their treasuries.
22 The Lord created me at the beginning of his way,
before his deeds long in the past.
23 I was formed in ancient times,
at the beginning, before the earth was.
24 When there were no watery depths, I was brought forth,
when there were no springs flowing with water.
25 Before the mountains were settled,
before the hills, I was brought forth;
26 before God[d] made the earth and the fields
or the first of the dry land.
27 I was there when he established the heavens,
when he marked out the horizon on the deep sea,
28 when he thickened the clouds above,
when he secured the fountains of the deep,
29 when he set a limit for the sea,
so the water couldn’t go beyond his command,
when he marked out the earth’s foundations.
30 I was beside him as a master of crafts.[e]
I was having fun,
smiling before him all the time,
31 frolicking with his inhabited earth
and delighting in the human race.
32 Now children, listen to me:
Happy are those who keep to my ways!
33 Listen to instruction, and be wise;
don’t avoid it.
34 Happy are those who listen to me,
watching daily at my doors,
waiting at my doorposts.
35 Those who find me find life;
they gain favor from the Lord.
36 Those who offend me injure themselves;
all those who hate me love death.
“Woman Wisdom’s” invitation
9 Wisdom built her house;
she has carved out her seven pillars.
2 She slaughtered her animals,
mixed her wine,
and set her table.
3 She sends out her female servants; she issues an invitation
from the top of the city heights:
4 “Whoever is naive turn aside here,”
she says to those who lack sense.
5 “Come, eat my food,
and drink the wine I have mixed.
6 Abandon your simplistic ways and live;
walk in the way of understanding.”
Wise advice
7 Whoever instructs the cynic gets insulted;
whoever corrects the wicked gets hurt.
8 Don’t correct the impudent, or they will hate you;
correct the wise, and they will love you.
9 Teach the wise, and they will become wiser;
inform the righteous, and their learning will increase.
10 The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord;
the knowledge of the holy one is understanding.
11 Through me your days will be many;
years will be added to your life.
12 If you are wise, it is to your benefit;
if you are cynical, you will bear it all alone.
“Woman Folly’s” invitation
13 Woman Folly is noisy;
she’s stupid and doesn’t even know it.
14 She sits at the doorway of her house,
on a seat at the city heights.
15 She invites those who pass by on the path,
those going straight on their way.
16 “Whoever is naive, come in here,”
she says to those who lack sense.
17 “Stolen water is sweet;
food eaten in secret is pleasant.”
18 But they don’t know that the dead are there;
her guests are in the depths of the grave.[f]
Proverbs of Solomon
10 The proverbs of Solomon:
A wise child makes a father glad,
but a foolish child brings sorrow to his mother.
2 The treasure of the wicked won’t profit them,
but righteousness rescues people from death.
3 The Lord doesn’t let the righteous starve,
but he rejects the desires of the wicked.
4 Laziness brings poverty;
hard work makes one rich.
5 A wise son harvests in the summer;
a disgraceful son sleeps right through the harvest.
6 Blessings cover the head of the righteous,
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
7 The memory of the righteous is a blessing,
but the name of the wicked rots.
8 The skilled mind accepts commands,
but a foolish talker is ruined.
9 Those who walk in innocence walk with confidence,
but those on crooked paths will be found out.
10 Those who wink an eye bring trouble;
those who speak foolishly are ruined.
11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
12 Hate stirs up conflict,
but love covers all offenses.
13 Wisdom is found on the lips of those who have understanding,
but there is a rod for the back of those with no sense.
14 The wise store up knowledge,
but the mouth of a fool brings on ruin.
15 The riches of the wealthy are their strong city;
the ruin of the poor is their poverty.
16 The wages of the righteous lead to life;
the earnings of the wicked lead to sin.
17 Those who heed instruction are on the way to life,
but those who ignore correction lose their way.
18 Lying lips conceal hate,
and those who spread slander are fools.
19 With lots of words comes wrongdoing,
but the wise restrain their lips.
20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver,
but the heart of the wicked lacks value.
21 The lips of the righteous nourish many people,
but fools who lack sense will die.
22 The Lord’s blessing makes a person rich,
and no trouble is added to it.
23 Fools enjoy vile deeds,
but those with understanding take pleasure in wisdom.
24 What the wicked dread will come on them,
but what the righteous desire will be given to them.
25 After a whirlwind passes by, the wicked are no more,
but the righteous stand firm forever.
26 Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
so are lazy people to those who authorize them.
27 The fear of the Lord increases one’s life,
but the years of the wicked will be cut short.
28 The expectations of the righteous result in joy,
but the hopes of the wicked will perish.
29 The path of the Lord is a refuge for the innocent
and ruin for those who do evil.
30 The righteous will never be shaken,
but the wicked won’t dwell in the land.
31 The mouth of the righteous flows with wisdom,
but the twisted tongue will be cut off.
32 The lips of the wise know what is acceptable,
but the mouth of the wicked knows only what is perverse.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 7:22 Heb uncertain
- Proverbs 7:27 Heb Sheol
- Proverbs 8:16 Heb uncertain
- Proverbs 8:26 Heb lacks God.
- Proverbs 8:30 Heb uncertain
- Proverbs 9:18 Heb Sheol
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