Proverbs 6:23-7:27

English Standard Version

²³For the commandment is ^(A)a lamp and the teaching a light,
    and the ^(B)reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
²⁴to preserve you from the evil woman,^[a]
    from the smooth tongue of ^(C)the adulteress.^[b]
²⁵^(D)Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
    and do not let her capture you with her ^(E)eyelashes;
²⁶for ^(F)the price of a prostitute is only ^(G)a loaf of bread,^[c]
    but a married woman^[d] ^(H)hunts down a precious life.
²⁷Can a man carry ^(I)fire next to his ^(J)chest
    and his clothes not be burned?
²⁸Or can one ^(K)walk on hot coals
    and his feet not be scorched?
²⁹So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife;
    none who touches her ^(L)will go unpunished.
³⁰People do not despise a thief if he steals
    to ^(M)satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
³¹but ^(N)if he is caught, he will pay ^(O)sevenfold;
    he will give all the goods of his house.
³²He who commits adultery lacks sense;
    he who does it destroys himself.
³³He will get wounds and dishonor,
    and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
³⁴For ^(P)jealousy makes a man furious,
    and he will not spare when ^(Q)he takes revenge.
³⁵He will accept no compensation;
    he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

Warning Against the Adulteress

7 ^(R)My son, keep my words
    and ^(S)treasure up my commandments with you;
²^(T)keep my commandments and live;
    keep my teaching as ^(U)the apple of your eye;
³^(V)bind them on your fingers;
    ^(W)write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and call insight your intimate friend,
⁵to keep you from ^(X)the forbidden^[e] woman,
    from ^(Y)the adulteress^[f] with her smooth words.

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

¹⁰And behold, the woman meets him,
    ^(AF)dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.^[g]
¹¹She is ^(AG)loud and ^(AH)wayward;
    ^(AI)her feet do not stay at home;
¹²now in the street, now in the market,
    and ^(AJ)at every corner she ^(AK)lies in wait.
¹³She seizes him and kisses him,
    and with ^(AL)bold face she says to him,
¹⁴“I had to ^(AM)offer sacrifices,^[h]
    and today I have ^(AN)paid my vows;
¹⁵so now I have come out to meet you,
    to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
¹⁶I have spread my couch with ^(AO)coverings,
    colored linens from ^(AP)Egyptian linen;
¹⁷I have perfumed my bed with ^(AQ)myrrh,
    aloes, and ^(AR)cinnamon.
¹⁸Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
    let us delight ourselves with love.
¹⁹For ^(AS)my husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey;
²⁰he took a bag of money with him;
    at full moon he will come home.”

²¹With much seductive speech she persuades him;
    with ^(AT)her smooth talk she compels him.
²²All at once he follows her,
    as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast^[i]
²³    till an arrow pierces its liver;
as ^(AU)a bird rushes into a snare;
    he does not know that it will cost him his life.

²⁴And ^(AV)now, O sons, listen to me,
    and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
²⁵Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
    do not stray into her paths,
²⁶for many a victim has she laid low,
    and all her slain are ^(AW)a mighty throng.
²⁷Her house is ^(AX)the way to Sheol,
    going down to the chambers of death.

Footnotes

Proverbs 6:24 Revocalization (compare Septuagint) yields from the wife of a neighbor
Proverbs 6:24 Hebrew the foreign woman
Proverbs 6:26 Or (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate) for a prostitute leaves a man with nothing but a loaf of bread
Proverbs 6:26 Hebrew a man's wife
Proverbs 7:5 Hebrew strange
Proverbs 7:5 Hebrew the foreign woman
Proverbs 7:10 Hebrew guarded in heart
Proverbs 7:14 Hebrew peace offerings
Proverbs 7:22 Probable reading (compare Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac); Hebrew as a chain to discipline a fool