The Wiles of a Harlot

My son, keep my words,
And (A)treasure my commands within you.
(B)Keep my commands and live,
(C)And my law as the apple of your eye.
(D)Bind them on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call understanding your nearest kin,
(E)That they may keep you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her words.

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Warning Against the Strange Woman

My child, guard my sayings;
    store my commandments with you.
Keep my commands and live,
    and my teaching like the apple of your eye.[a]
Bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
Say to wisdom,[b] “you are my sister,”
    and you shall call insight,[c]intimate friend.”[d]
In order to guard yourself from an adulteress,[e]
    from the foreigner who makes her words smooth.[f]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 7:2 A single word meaning “pupil of the eye”
  2. Proverbs 7:4 Hebrew “the wisdom”
  3. Proverbs 7:4 Hebrew “the insight”
  4. Proverbs 7:4 Literally “one who is known.” To “know” is often a euphemism for intercourse. Therefore “intimate friend” may also be read “lover.”
  5. Proverbs 7:5 Literally “a strange woman”
  6. Proverbs 7:5 Literally “causes to be smooth her words”