⁶ For at ^(C)the window of my house
    I have looked out through my lattice,
⁷ and I have seen among ^(D)the simple,
    I have perceived among the youths,
    a young man ^(E)lacking sense,
⁸ passing along the street ^(F)near her corner,
    taking the road to her house
⁹ in ^(G)the twilight, in the evening,
    at ^(H)the time of night and darkness.

¹⁰ And behold, the woman meets him,
    ^(I)dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.^[c]
11 She is ^(J)loud and ^(K)wayward;
    ^(L)her feet do not stay at home;
¹² now in the street, now in the market,
    and ^(M)at every corner she ^(N)lies in wait.
¹³ She seizes him and kisses him,
    and with ^(O)bold face she says to him,
¹⁴ “I had to ^(P)offer sacrifices,^[d]
    and today I have ^(Q)paid my vows;
¹⁵ so now I have come out to meet you,
    to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
¹⁶ I have spread my couch with ^(R)coverings,
    colored linens from ^(S)Egyptian linen;
¹⁷ I have perfumed my bed with ^(T)myrrh,
    aloes, and ^(U)cinnamon.
¹⁸ Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
    let us delight ourselves with love.
¹⁹ For ^(V)my husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey;
²⁰ he took a bag of money with him;
    at full moon he will come home.”

²¹ With much seductive speech she persuades him;
    with ^(W)her smooth talk she compels him.
²² All at once he follows her,
    as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast^[e]
23     till an arrow pierces its liver;
as ^(X)a bird rushes into a snare;
    he does not know that it will cost him his life.

²⁴ And ^(Y)now, O sons, listen to me,
    and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
²⁵ Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
    do not stray into her paths,
²⁶ for many a victim has she laid low,
    and all her slain are ^(Z)a mighty throng.
²⁷ Her house is ^(AA)the way to Sheol,
    going down to the chambers of death.

¹⁶ So ^(A)you will be delivered from the forbidden^[a] woman,
    from ^(B)the adulteress^[b] with ^(C)her smooth words,
¹⁷ who forsakes ^(D)the companion of her youth
    and forgets ^(E)the covenant of her God;
^18 (F)for her house sinks down to death,
    and her paths to the departed;^[c]
19 none who go to her come back,
    nor do they regain the paths of life.

⁷ And ^(I)now, O sons, listen to me,
    and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
⁸ Keep your way far from her,
    and do not go near the door of her house,
⁹ lest you give your honor to others
    and your years to the merciless,
¹⁰ lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
    and your ^(J)labors go to the house of a foreigner,
¹¹ and at the end of your life you ^(K)groan,
    when your flesh and body are consumed,
¹² and you say, ^(L)“How I hated discipline,
    and my heart ^(M)despised reproof!
¹³ I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
    or incline my ear to my instructors.
^14 (N)I am at the brink of utter ruin
    in the assembled congregation.”

¹⁵ Drink ^(O)water from your own cistern,
    flowing water from your own well.
¹⁶ Should your ^(P)springs be scattered abroad,
    streams of water ^(Q)in the streets?
^17 (R)Let them be for yourself alone,
    and not for strangers with you.
¹⁸ Let your ^(S)fountain be blessed,
    and ^(T)rejoice in ^(U)the wife of your youth,
¹⁹     a lovely ^(V)deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts ^(W)fill you at all times with delight;
    be intoxicated^[d] always in her love.
²⁰ Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with ^(X)a forbidden woman
    and embrace the bosom of ^(Y)an adulteress?^[e]
21 For ^(Z)a man's ways are ^(AA)before the eyes of the Lord,
    and he ^(AB)ponders^[f] all his paths.
²² The ^(AC)iniquities of the wicked ^(AD)ensnare him,
    and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
^23 (AE)He dies for lack of discipline,
    and because of his great folly he is ^(AF)led astray.