Warning against the adulterous woman

¹My son, keep my words

and store up my commands within you.

²Keep my commands and you will live;

guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.

³Bind them on your fingers;

write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Say to wisdom, ‘You are my sister,’

and to insight, ‘You are my relative.’

⁵They will keep you from the adulterous woman,

from the wayward woman with her seductive words.

⁶At the window of my house

I looked down through the lattice.

⁷I saw among the simple,

I noticed among the young men,

a youth who had no sense.

⁸He was going down the street near her corner,

walking along in the direction of her house

⁹at twilight, as the day was fading,

as the dark of night set in.

¹⁰Then out came a woman to meet him,

dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.

¹¹(She is unruly and defiant,

her feet never stay at home;

¹²now in the street, now in the squares,

at every corner she lurks.)

¹³She took hold of him and kissed him

and with a brazen face she said:

¹⁴‘Today I fulfilled my vows,

and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.

¹⁵So I came out to meet you;

I looked for you and have found you!

¹⁶I have covered my bed

with coloured linens from Egypt.

¹⁷I have perfumed my bed

with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

¹⁸Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;

let’s enjoy ourselves with love!

¹⁹My husband is not at home;

he has gone on a long journey.

²⁰He took his purse filled with money

and will not be home till full moon.’

²¹With persuasive words she led him astray;

she seduced him with her smooth talk.

²²All at once he followed her

like an ox going to the slaughter,

like a deer stepping into a noose

²³till an arrow pierces his liver,

like a bird darting into a snare,

little knowing it will cost him his life.

²⁴Now then, my sons, listen to me;

pay attention to what I say.

²⁵Do not let your heart turn to her ways

or stray into her paths.

²⁶Many are the victims she has brought down;

her slain are a mighty throng.

²⁷Her house is a highway to the grave,

leading down to the chambers of death.