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 ^(M)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 ^(N)labors go to the house of a foreigner,
¹¹ and at the end of your life you ^(O)groan,
    when your flesh and body are consumed,
¹² and you say, ^(P)“How I hated discipline,
    and my heart ^(Q)despised reproof!
¹³ I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
    or incline my ear to my instructors.
^14 (R)I am at the brink of utter ruin
    in the assembled congregation.”

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

¹⁰ And behold, the woman meets him,
    ^(O)dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.^[c]
11 She is ^(P)loud and ^(Q)wayward;
    ^(R)her feet do not stay at home;
¹² now in the street, now in the market,
    and ^(S)at every corner she ^(T)lies in wait.
¹³ She seizes him and kisses him,
    and with ^(U)bold face she says to him,
¹⁴ “I had to ^(V)offer sacrifices,^[d]
    and today I have ^(W)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 ^(X)coverings,
    colored linens from ^(Y)Egyptian linen;
¹⁷ I have perfumed my bed with ^(Z)myrrh,
    aloes, and ^(AA)cinnamon.
¹⁸ Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
    let us delight ourselves with love.
¹⁹ For ^(AB)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 ^(AC)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 ^(AD)a bird rushes into a snare;
    he does not know that it will cost him his life.