Proverbs 7
Expanded Bible
The Woman of Adultery
7 My son, ·remember what I say [guard my speech], and ·treasure [store/hide in you] my commands.
2 ·Obey [Guard] my commands, and you will live.
Guard my ·teachings [instructions] ·as you would your own [L like the apple of your] eyes.
3 ·Remind yourself of them [L Bind them on your fingers];
write them on your heart as if on a tablet.
4 ·Treat wisdom as a sister [L Say to Wisdom, “You are my sister”; 1:20–33; 8:1—9:6],
and ·make understanding your closest friend [L call Understanding “Friend”].
5 ·Wisdom and understanding [L She] will ·keep you away [guard you] from ·adultery [L the strange woman],
away from the ·unfaithful wife [L foreign woman] and her ·pleasing [flattering] words.
6 Once while I was at the window of my house
I looked out through the ·shutters [lattice; curtains]
7 and saw some ·foolish [simpleminded; immature; naive], young men.
I noticed one of them ·had no wisdom [had no sense; L lacked heart].
8 He was ·walking down [crossing] the street near the corner
on the road leading to her house.
9 It was the twilight of the evening;
the darkness of the night was just beginning.
10 Then the woman ·approached [or propositioned] him,
dressed like a prostitute
and ·planning to trick him [L with a guarded heart].
11 She was ·loud [boisterous; noisy] and ·stubborn [defiant]
and ·never stayed at [L her feet do not rest in her own] home.
12 ·She was always out [L A foot] in the streets ·or in [L a foot in] the city squares,
·waiting around [lurking] on the corners of the streets.
13 She grabbed him and kissed him.
·Without shame [L Her face was brazen as] she said to him,
14 “I made my fellowship offering [Lev. 3; 7:11–21; C the offerer ate the meat of the offering].
Today I have ·kept [paid back] my ·special promises [vows].
15 So I have come out to meet you;
I have been ·looking for you [L seeking your face] and have found you.
16 I have ·covered [ornamented] my bed
with colored sheets from Egypt.
17 I have ·made my bed smell sweet [L sprinkled my bed]
with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s ·make [be intoxicated with] love until morning.
Let’s ·enjoy each other’s [rejoice in] love.
19 My husband is not home;
he has gone on a ·long [faraway] trip.
20 He took a ·lot of money with him [L pouch of money in his hand]
and won’t be home ·for weeks [L until the new moon].”
21 By her clever words she ·made him give in [seduces him];
by ·her pleasing words [L the flattery of her lips] she ·led him into doing wrong [persuades/compels him].
22 All at once he followed her,
like an ox led to the ·butcher [slaughter],
like a ·deer caught in a trap [or fool to the stocks]
23 ·and shot through the liver with an arrow [until an arrow pierces his liver].
Like a bird ·caught in [L hurrying to] a trap,
he didn’t know ·what he did would kill him [it would cost him his life].
24 Now, my sons, listen to me;
pay attention to ·what I say [L the speech of my mouth].
25 Don’t ·let yourself be tricked by such a woman [L turn your heart to her paths];
don’t ·go where she leads you [wander onto her paths].
26 She has ·ruined many good men [L caused many corpses to fall],
and many ·have died because of her [are those she has killed].
27 Her house is on the ·road [path] to ·death [L Sheol; C the grave or the underworld],
·the road that leads down to the grave [L going down to the chambers of death].
Proverbs 7
Amplified Bible
The Wiles of the Prostitute
7 My son, keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you [so they are readily available to guide you].
2
Keep my commandments and live,
And keep my teaching and law as the apple of your eye.
3
Bind them [securely] on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4
Say to [skillful and godly] wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And regard understanding and intelligent insight as your intimate friends;
5
That they may keep you from the immoral woman,
From the foreigner [who does not observe God’s laws and] who flatters with her [smooth] words.
6
For at the window of my house
I looked out through my lattice.
7
And among the naive [the inexperienced and gullible],
I saw among the youths
A young man lacking [good] sense,
8
Passing through the street near her corner;
And he took the path to her house
9
In the twilight, in the evening;
In the black and dark night.
10
And there a woman met him,
Dressed as a prostitute and sly and cunning of heart.
11
She was boisterous and rebellious;
[a]She would not stay at home.
12
At times she was in the streets, at times in the market places,
Lurking and setting her ambush at every corner.
13
So she caught him and kissed him
And with a brazen and impudent face she said to him:
14
“I have peace offerings with me;
Today I have paid my vows.
15
“So I came out to meet you [that you might share with me the feast of my offering],
Diligently I sought your face and I have found you.
16
“I have spread my couch with coverings and cushions of tapestry,
With colored fine linen of Egypt.
17
“I have perfumed my bed
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18
“Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning;
Let us console and delight ourselves with love.
19
“For my husband is not at home.
He has gone on a long journey;
20
He has taken a bag of money with him,
And he will come home on the appointed day.”
21
With her many persuasions she caused him to yield;
With her flattering lips she seduced him.
22
Suddenly he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter [not knowing the outcome],
Or as one in stocks going to the correction [to be given] to a fool,
23
Until an arrow pierced his liver [with a mortal wound];
Like a bird fluttering straight into the net,
He did not know that it would cost him his life.
24
Now therefore, my sons, listen to me,
And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25
Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her [evil, immoral] paths.
26
For she has cast down many [mortally] wounded;
Indeed, all who were killed by her were strong.(A)
27
Her house is the way to [b]Sheol,
Descending to the chambers of death.(B)
Footnotes
- Proverbs 7:11 Lit Her feet do not.
- Proverbs 7:27 Hades, the nether world, the place of the dead.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
