¹⁶ Wisdom will deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger, who flattereth with her words,

³ For the lips of a strange woman drip as a honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil;

²⁰ And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

⁵ that they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the harlot who flattereth with her words.

⁶ For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,

⁷ and I beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youth, a young man void of understanding,

⁸ passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,

⁹ in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night.

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

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

¹² now is she outside, 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 paid my vows.

¹⁵ Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently seeking 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 love.

¹⁹ For the master is not at home; he is gone on 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 until a dart strike through his liver, as a bird hasteneth 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, leading down to the chambers of death.

¹⁴ The mouth of a strange woman is a deep pit; he that is abhorred by the Lord shall fall therein.

²⁶ My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways;

²⁷ for a whore is a deep ditch, and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

²⁸ She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.