¹⁶ Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman,^[a]
from the unfaithful woman^[b] with her seductive words,

³ because the lips of an immoral woman drip with honey,
and her words are^[a] as smooth as olive oil,

²⁰ Why should you be led astray, my son, by an immoral woman?
Why embrace a woman who is not your wife?

⁵ She will keep you safe from an immoral woman,
from an unfaithful woman and her seductive words.

⁶ At a window of my house, I looked out through the lattice.
⁷ I was watching the gullible^[a] people.
Among the young men I noticed a youth without sense.
⁸ He was crossing the street near her corner,
strolling along the road to her house,
⁹ in the twilight, in the evening of the day,
when the darkness of the night was coming.^[b]
10 Suddenly a woman meets him.
She is dressed like a prostitute with a scheming heart!
¹¹ She is loud and rebellious.
Her feet will not stay home.
¹² One moment she is in the street.
The next moment she is in the public square.
She is on the prowl near every corner.
¹³ She grabs him and kisses him.
With a brazen face she says,
¹⁴ “I have food from fellowship offerings.
Today I fulfilled my vows.
¹⁵ That is why I came out to meet you.
I came eagerly to seek you,
and now I have found you!
¹⁶ I have covered my couch with a bedspread,
with colored cloth made of Egyptian yarn.
¹⁷ I have perfumed my bed
    with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
¹⁸ Come, let’s drink our fill of love^[c] until morning.
Let’s enjoy making love.
¹⁹ Look, my husband isn’t home.
He has gone on a long trip.
²⁰ He took a bag of silver with him.
He will not come home till the next full moon.”
²¹ She deceives him with enticing words.
With smooth lips she seduces him.
²² He follows right after her,
like a steer going to slaughter,
like a deer prancing into a noose,^[d]
23     until an arrow pierces its liver,
like a bird darting into a trap.
He does not realize this will cost him his life.
²⁴ Now, you sons, listen to me.
Pay attention to the words from my mouth.
²⁵ Do not let your heart turn in her direction.
Do not wander on her pathways,
²⁶ because she has brought down many victims.
Those she has killed are countless.
²⁷ Her house is on the road to the grave.^[e]
It goes down to the chambers of death.