Proverbs 7
New Living Translation
Another Warning about Immoral Women
7 Follow my advice, my son;
always treasure my commands.
2 Obey my commands and live!
Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes.[a]
3 Tie them on your fingers as a reminder.
Write them deep within your heart.
4 Love wisdom like a sister;
make insight a beloved member of your family.
5 Let them protect you from an affair with an immoral woman,
from listening to the flattery of a promiscuous woman.
6 While I was at the window of my house,
looking through the curtain,
7 I saw some naive young men,
and one in particular who lacked common sense.
8 He was crossing the street near the house of an immoral woman,
strolling down the path by her house.
9 It was at twilight, in the evening,
as deep darkness fell.
10 The woman approached him,
seductively dressed and sly of heart.
11 She was the brash, rebellious type,
never content to stay at home.
12 She is often in the streets and markets,
soliciting at every corner.
13 She threw her arms around him and kissed him,
and with a brazen look she said,
14 “I’ve just made my peace offerings
and fulfilled my vows.
15 You’re the one I was looking for!
I came out to find you, and here you are!
16 My bed is spread with beautiful blankets,
with colored sheets of Egyptian linen.
17 I’ve perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning.
Let’s enjoy each other’s caresses,
19 for my husband is not home.
He’s away on a long trip.
20 He has taken a wallet full of money with him
and won’t return until later this month.[b]”
21 So she seduced him with her pretty speech
and enticed him with her flattery.
22 He followed her at once,
like an ox going to the slaughter.
He was like a stag caught in a trap,[c]
23 awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart.
He was like a bird flying into a snare,
little knowing it would cost him his life.
24 So listen to me, my sons,
and pay attention to my words.
25 Don’t let your hearts stray away toward her.
Don’t wander down her wayward path.
26 For she has been the ruin of many;
many men have been her victims.
27 Her house is the road to the grave.[d]
Her bedroom is the den of death.
Proverbs 7
International Standard Version
On Avoiding the Immoral Woman
7 My son, guard what I say
and treasure my commands.
2 Keep my commands and you’ll live.
Guard[a] my teaching as you do your eyesight.
3 Strap them to your fingers
and engrave them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You’re my sister!”
and call understanding your close relative,
5 so they can keep you from an adulterous woman,
from the immoral woman with her seductive words.
A Father’s Warning
6 For from a window in my house
I peered through the lattice work,
7 and I noticed among the naïve—
that is, I discerned among the youths—
a senseless young man.
8 Proceeding down the street near her corner,
he makes his way toward her house
9 at twilight, during the evening,
even during the darkest part of the night.
10 Look! A woman makes her way to meet him,
dressed as a prostitute
and intending to entrap him.
11 She is brazen and defiant—
her feet don’t remain at home.
12 Now she is in the street, now in the plazas,
she lurks near every corner.
13 So she grabs hold of him and kisses him,
with a brazen face she speaks to him,
14 “I have given[b] my peace offerings,
and today I fulfilled my vows.
15 Therefore, I’ve come out to meet you,
I’ve looked just for you,
and I found you!
16 I’ve decorated my bed with new coverings—
embroidered linen from Egypt.
17 I’ve perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s make love until dawn;
let’s comfort ourselves with love,
19 because my husband isn’t home.
He left on a long trip.
20 He took a fist full of cash
and he’ll return home in a month.”
21 She leads him astray with great persuasion;
with flattering lips she seduces him.
22 All of a sudden he follows her
like an ox fit for slaughter
or like a fool fit for a trap[c]
23 until an arrow pierces his liver.
As a bird darts into a snare,
he doesn’t realize his fatal decision.[d]
24 So listen to me, my sons,
and pay attention to what I have to say.
25 Don’t be led astray by her lifestyle,[e]
and don’t imitate her behavior.[f]
26 For many are the victims whom she has conquered,
and many are her slain.
27 Her house leads to Sheol,[g]
descending to death’s catacombs.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 7:2 The Heb. lacks Guard
- Proverbs 7:14 The Heb. lacks given
- Proverbs 7:22 So MT; LXX reads a dog fit for chains
- Proverbs 7:23 Lit. realize it is his life
- Proverbs 7:25 Lit. ways
- Proverbs 7:25 Lit. paths
- Proverbs 7:27 I.e. the realm of the dead
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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