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Invitación de la mujer infiel

Querido jovencito,
ten presente lo que te digo
y obedece mis mandamientos.
2-3 Cúmplelos, y vivirás;
grábalos en tu mente,
nunca te olvides de ellos.
Cuida mis enseñanzas
como a tu propia vida.

Hazte hermano de la sabiduría;
hazte amigo del conocimiento,
y te librará de la mujer
que te engaña con sus palabras
y le es infiel a su esposo.

Un día en que yo estaba
mirando a través de la ventana,
vi entre los muchachos imprudentes
a uno más imprudente que otros.
Llegó a la esquina,
cruzó la calle,
y lentamente se dirigió
a la casa de esa mujer.
Ya había caído la noche.
El día llegaba a su fin.

10 En ese preciso instante
la mujer salió a su encuentro.
Iba vestida como una prostituta,
y no disimulaba sus intenciones.
11 Llamaba mucho la atención;
se veía que era una mujer
incapaz de quedarse en casa.
12 A esa clase de mujeres
se las ve andar por las calles,
o andar vagando por las plazas,
o detenerse en cada esquina
esperando a ver quién pasa.
13 Cuando la mujer vio al joven,
se le echó al cuello y lo besó,
y abiertamente le propuso:

14 «Puedo invitarte a comer
de la carne ofrecida a mis dioses.
Hoy les cumplí mis promesas,
y estoy en paz con ellos.
15 Por eso salí a tu encuentro;
te buscaba, ¡y ya te encontré!
16 Tengo tendida en la cama
una colcha muy fina y colorida.
17 Mi cama despide el aroma
de los perfumes más excitantes.
18 Ven conmigo;
hagamos el amor hasta mañana.
19 Mi esposo no está en casa,
pues ha salido de viaje.
20 Llenó de dinero sus bolsas,
y no volverá hasta mediados del mes».

21 Con tanta dulzura le habló,
que lo hizo caer en sus redes.
22 Y el joven se fue tras ella
como va el buey al matadero;
cayó en la trampa como un venado
23 cuando le clavan la flecha;
cayó como los pájaros,
que vuelan contra la red
sin saber que perderán la vida.

24 Querido jovencito: obedéceme;
pon atención a lo que te digo.
25 No pienses en esa mujer,
ni pierdas por ella la cabeza.
26 Por culpa suya muchos han muerto;
¡sus víctimas son ya demasiadas!
27 Todo el que entra en su casa
va derecho a la tumba.

Dressed to Seduce

1-5 Dear friend, do what I tell you;
    treasure my careful instructions.
Do what I say and you’ll live well.
    My teaching is as precious as your eyesight—guard it!
Write it out on the back of your hands;
    etch it on the chambers of your heart.
Talk to Wisdom as to a sister.
    Treat Insight as your companion.
They’ll be with you to fend off the Temptress—
    that smooth-talking, honey-tongued Seductress.

6-12 As I stood at the window of my house
    looking out through the shutters,
Watching the mindless crowd stroll by,
    I spotted a young man without any sense
Arriving at the corner of the street where she lived,
    then turning up the path to her house.
It was dusk, the evening coming on,
    the darkness thickening into night.
Just then, a woman met him—
    she’d been lying in wait for him, dressed to seduce him.
Brazen and brash she was,
    restless and roaming, never at home,
Walking the streets, loitering in the mall,
    hanging out at every corner in town.

13-20 She threw her arms around him and kissed him,
    boldly took his arm and said,
“I’ve got all the makings for a feast—
    today I made my offerings, my vows are all paid,
So now I’ve come to find you,
    hoping to catch sight of your face—and here you are!
I’ve spread fresh, clean sheets on my bed,
    colorful imported linens.
My bed is aromatic with spices
    and exotic fragrances.
Come, let’s make love all night,
    spend the night in ecstatic lovemaking!
My husband’s not home; he’s away on business,
    and he won’t be back for a month.”

21-23 Soon she has him eating out of her hand,
    bewitched by her honeyed speech.
Before you know it, he’s trotting behind her,
    like a calf led to the butcher shop,
Like a stag lured into ambush
    and then shot with an arrow,
Like a bird flying into a net
    not knowing that its flying life is over.

24-27 So, friends, listen to me,
    take these words of mine most seriously.
Don’t fool around with a woman like that;
    don’t even stroll through her neighborhood.
Countless victims come under her spell;
    she’s the death of many a poor man.
She runs a halfway house to hell,
    fits you out with a shroud and a coffin.

My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.

Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.

Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.

Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:

That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,

And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,

Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,

In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:

10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:

12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)

13 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,

14 I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.

15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.

16 I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.

17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.

19 For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:

20 He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.

21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.

22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;

23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

24 Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.

25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.

26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.

27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

Warning Against the Adulterous Woman

My son,(A) keep my words
    and store up my commands within you.
Keep my commands and you will live;(B)
    guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
Bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.(C)
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and to insight, “You are my relative.”
They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words.(D)

At the window of my house
    I looked down through the lattice.
I saw among the simple,
    I noticed among the young men,
    a youth who had no sense.(E)
He was going down the street near her corner,
    walking along in the direction of her house
at twilight,(F) as the day was fading,
    as the dark of night set in.

10 Then out came a woman to meet him,
    dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
11 (She is unruly(G) and defiant,
    her feet never stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the squares,
    at every corner she lurks.)(H)
13 She took hold of him(I) and kissed him
    and with a brazen face she said:(J)

14 “Today I fulfilled my vows,
    and I have food from my fellowship offering(K) at home.
15 So I came out to meet you;
    I looked for you and have found you!
16 I have covered my bed
    with colored linens from Egypt.
17 I have perfumed my bed(L)
    with myrrh,(M) aloes and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
    let’s enjoy ourselves with love!(N)
19 My husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey.
20 He took his purse filled with money
    and will not be home till full moon.”

21 With persuasive words she led him astray;
    she seduced him with her smooth talk.(O)
22 All at once he followed her
    like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer[a] stepping into a noose[b](P)
23     till an arrow pierces(Q) his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
    little knowing it will cost him his life.(R)

24 Now then, my sons, listen(S) to me;
    pay attention to what I say.
25 Do not let your heart turn to her ways
    or stray into her paths.(T)
26 Many are the victims she has brought down;
    her slain are a mighty throng.
27 Her house is a highway to the grave,
    leading down to the chambers of death.(U)

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 7:22 Syriac (see also Septuagint); Hebrew fool
  2. Proverbs 7:22 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.