Proverbs 7
American Standard Version
7 My son, keep my words,
And lay up my commandments with thee.
2 Keep my commandments and live;
And my law as the apple of thine eye.
3 Bind them upon thy fingers;
Write them upon the tablet of thy heart.
4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister;
And call understanding thy [a]kinswoman:
5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman,
From the foreigner that [b]flattereth with her words.
6 For at the window of my house
I looked forth through my lattice;
7 And I beheld among the simple ones,
I discerned among the youths,
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 of the day,
In the [c]middle of the night and in the darkness.
10 And, behold, there met him a woman
With the attire of a harlot, and [d]wily of heart.
11 (She is [e]clamorous and wilful;
Her feet abide not in her house:
12 Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places,
And lieth in wait at every corner.)
13 So she caught him, and kissed him,
[f]And with an impudent face she said unto him:
14 Sacrifices of peace-offerings [g]are with me;
This day have I paid my vows.
15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee,
Diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
16 I have spread my couch with [h]carpets of tapestry,
With striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt.
17 I have [i]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 man is not at home;
He is gone a long journey:
20 He hath taken a bag of money with him;
He will come home at the full moon.
21 With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield;
With the flattering of her lips she forceth him along.
22 He goeth after her [j]straightway,
As an ox goeth to the slaughter,
Or as one in [k]fetters to the correction of the fool;
23 Till an arrow strike through his liver;
As a bird hasteth to the snare,
And knoweth not that it is for his life.
24 Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me,
And attend to the words of my mouth.
25 Let not thy heart decline to her ways;
Go not astray in her paths.
26 For she hath cast down many wounded:
Yea, all her slain are a mighty host.
27 Her house is the way to Sheol,
Going down to the chambers of death.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 7:4 Or, familiar friend
- Proverbs 7:5 Hebrew maketh smooth her words.
- Proverbs 7:9 Hebrew pupil (of the eye).
- Proverbs 7:10 Or, close. Hebrew guarded.
- Proverbs 7:11 Or, turbulent
- Proverbs 7:13 Hebrew She hardened her face, and said.
- Proverbs 7:14 Or, were due from me
- Proverbs 7:16 Or, cushions
- Proverbs 7:17 Or, sprinkled
- Proverbs 7:22 Hebrew suddenly.
- Proverbs 7:22 The Hebrew is obscure.
Proverbs 7
Lexham English Bible
Warning Against the Strange Woman
7 My child, guard my sayings;
store my commandments with you.
2 Keep my commands and live,
and my teaching like the apple of your eye.[a]
3 Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom,[b] “you are my sister,”
and you shall call insight,[c] “intimate friend.”[d]
5 In order to guard yourself from an adulteress,[e]
from the foreigner who makes her words smooth.[f]
6 For at the window of my house,
through my lattice, I looked down.
7 And I saw among the simple,
I observed among the youth,
a young man lacking sense,[g]
8 passing on the street at[h] her corner,
and he takes the road to her house,
9 at twilight, at the day’s evening,
in the midst of night and the darkness.
10 Then behold! A woman comes to meet him
with the garment of a prostitute[i] and a secret heart.[j]
11 She is loud and stubborn;
her feet do not stay at her house.
12 Now in the street, now in the square,
at[k] every corner she lies in wait.
13 She took hold of [l] him and kissed him.
Her face was impudent, and she said to him,
14 “Sacrifices of peace offerings are upon me;
today[m] I completed my vows.
15 So[n] I have come out to meet you,
to seek your face, and I have found you.
16 With coverings I have adorned my couch,
spreads of the linen of Egypt;
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love making,
until the morning let us delight in love.
19 For there is no man[o] in his home;
he has gone on a long journey.[p]
20 The bag of money he took in his hand,
for on the day of the full moon he will come home.”
21 She persuades him with the greatness of her teachings;
with her smooth lips she compels him.
22 He goes after her suddenly;
like an ox to the slaughter he goes,
and like a stag to the instruction of a fool,
23 until an arrow pierces his entrails,[q]
like a bird rushing into a snare,
but he does not know that it will cost him his life.[r]
Reiteration of the Warning Against a Strange Woman
24 And now, my children, listen to me,
and be attentive to the sayings of my mouth.
25 May your heart not turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her path.
26 For many slain she has laid low,
and countless[s] are all of her killings.
27 The ways of Sheol[t] are her house,
descending to chambers of death.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 7:2 A single word meaning “pupil of the eye”
- Proverbs 7:4 Hebrew “the wisdom”
- Proverbs 7:4 Hebrew “the insight”
- Proverbs 7:4 Literally “one who is known.” To “know” is often a euphemism for intercourse. Therefore “intimate friend” may also be read “lover.”
- Proverbs 7:5 Literally “a strange woman”
- Proverbs 7:5 Literally “causes to be smooth her words”
- Proverbs 7:7 Literally “heart”
- Proverbs 7:8 Literally “at the place of”
- Proverbs 7:10 Or “whore”
- Proverbs 7:10 Literally “secret of heart”
- Proverbs 7:12 Literally “at the place of”
- Proverbs 7:13 Or “strengthened”
- Proverbs 7:14 Literally “the day”
- Proverbs 7:15 Hebrew “thus”
- Proverbs 7:19 Or “husband”
- Proverbs 7:19 Literally “a journey from far”
- Proverbs 7:23 Literally “heaviness,” often referring to the liver
- Proverbs 7:23 Literally “it is against his life”
- Proverbs 7:26 Or “strong men”
- Proverbs 7:27 A term for the place where the dead reside, i.e., the Underworld
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