19 For (A)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 (B)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[a]
23     till an arrow pierces its liver;
as (C)a bird rushes into a snare;
    he does not know that it will cost him his life.

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

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 7:22 Probable reading (compare Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac); Hebrew as a chain to discipline a fool

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