²⁰ So why should you, my son, be intoxicated with a ^(A)strange woman
And embrace the bosom of a ^(B)foreign woman?

⁶ For ^(A)at the window of my house
I looked out ^(B)through my lattice,
⁷ And I saw among the ^(C)simple,
And discerned among the ^[b]sons
A young man ^(D)lacking a heart of wisdom,
⁸ Passing through the street near ^(E)her corner;
And he strides along the way to ^(F)her house,
⁹ In the ^(G)twilight, in the evening of that day,
In the ^[c]middle of the night, and in the thick darkness.
¹⁰ And behold, a woman comes to meet him,
^(H)Dressed as a harlot and ^[d]cunning of heart.
¹¹ She is ^(I)boisterous and rebellious,
Her ^(J)feet do not dwell at home;
¹² Stepping in the streets, stepping ^(K)in the squares,
And near every corner she ^(L)lies in wait.
¹³ So she seizes him and kisses him
^[e]And with a ^(M)brazen face she says to him:
¹⁴ “The sacrifices of ^(N)peace offerings are with me;
Today I ^(O)paid my vows.
¹⁵ Therefore I have come out to meet you,
To seek your face earnestly, and I have found you.
¹⁶ I have spread my couch with ^(P)coverings,
With colored ^(Q)linens of Egypt.
¹⁷ I have sprinkled my bed
With ^(R)myrrh, aloes, and ^(S)cinnamon.
¹⁸ Come, then, let us drink our fill as lovers until morning;
Let us delight ourselves with the pleasures of love.
¹⁹ For ^[f]my husband is not at home,
He has gone on a journey far away;
²⁰ He took a ^(T)bag of silver in his hand,
On the day of the full moon he will come home.”
²¹ With her abundant ^[g]persuasions she entices him;
With her ^(U)flattering lips she drives him to herself.
²² He suddenly follows her
As an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or ^[h]as one in fetters to the discipline of an ignorant fool,
²³ Until an arrow pierces through his liver;
As a ^(V)bird hastens to the snare,
And he does not know that it will cost him his ^[i]soul.

²⁴ So now, my sons, ^(W)listen to me,
And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
²⁵ Do not let your heart ^(X)go astray into her ways,
Do not wander into her pathways.
²⁶ For many are the slain whom she has cast down,
And ^(Y)numerous are all those killed by her.
²⁷ The ways to Sheol are in her ^(Z)house,
Descending to the chambers of death.

^26 (A)Give your heart to me, my son,
And let your eyes ^[a](B)delight in my ways.
²⁷ For a harlot is a ^(C)deep pit
And ^[b]a ^(D)foreign woman is a narrow well.
²⁸ Surely she ^(E)lies in wait as a robber,
And adds to the treacherous among men.