1 My son, keep my words,

And lay up my commandments with thee.

2 Keep my commandments and live;

And my law as the apple of thine eye.

3 Bind them upon thy fingers;

Write them upon the tablet of thy heart.

4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister;

And call understanding thy kinswoman:

5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman,

From the foreigner that flattereth with her words.

6 For at the window of my house

I looked forth through my lattice;

7 And I beheld among the simple ones,

I discerned among the youths,

A young man void of understanding,

8 Passing through the street near her corner;

And he went the way to her house,

9 In the twilight, in the evening of the day,

In the middle of the night and in the darkness.

10 And, behold, there met him a woman

With the attire of a harlot, and wily of heart.

11 (She is clamorous and wilful;

Her feet abide not in her house:

12 Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places,

And lieth in wait at every corner.)

13 So she caught him, and kissed him,

And with an impudent face she said unto him:

14 Sacrifices of peace-offerings are with me;

This day have I paid my vows.

15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee,

Diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.

16 I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry,

With striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt.

17 I have perfumed my bed

With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning;

Let us solace ourselves with loves.

19 For the man is not at home;

He is gone a long journey:

20 He hath taken a bag of money with him;

He will come home at the full moon.

21 With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield;

With the flattering of her lips she forceth him along.

22 He goeth after her straightway,

As an ox goeth to the slaughter,

Or as one in fetters to the correction of the fool;

23 Till an arrow strike through his liver;

As a bird hasteth to the snare,

And knoweth not that it is for his life.

24 Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me,

And attend to the words of my mouth.

25 Let not thy heart decline to her ways;

Go not astray in her paths.

26 For she hath cast down many wounded:

Yea, all her slain are a mighty host.

27 Her house is the way to Sheol,

Going down to the chambers of death.

1 My son! keep my sayings, And my commands lay up with thee.

2 Keep my commands, and live, And my law as the pupil of thine eye.

3 Bind them on thy fingers, Write them on the tablet of thy heart.

4 Say to wisdom, `My sister Thou [art].` And cry to understanding, `Kinswoman!`

5 To preserve thee from a strange woman, From a stranger who hath made smooth her sayings.

6 For, at a window of my house, Through my casement I have looked out,

7 And I do see among the simple ones, I discern among the sons, A young man lacking understanding,

8 Passing on in the street, near her corner, And the way [to] her house he doth step,

9 In the twilight -- in the evening of day, In the darkness of night and blackness.

10 And, lo, a woman to meet him -- (A harlot`s dress, and watchful of heart,

11 Noisy she [is], and stubborn, In her house her feet rest not.

12 Now in an out-place, now in broad places, And near every corner she lieth in wait) --

13 And she laid hold on him, and kissed him, She hath hardened her face, and saith to him,

14 `Sacrifices of peace-offerings [are] by me, To-day I have completed my vows.

15 Therefore I have come forth to meet thee, To seek earnestly thy face, and I find thee.

16 [With] ornamental coverings I decked my couch, Carved works -- cotton of Egypt.

17 I sprinkled my bed -- myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

18 Come, we are filled [with] loves till the morning, We delight ourselves in loves.

19 For the man is not in his house, He hath gone on a long journey.

20 A bag of money he hath taken in his hand, At the day of the new moon he cometh to his house.`

21 She turneth him aside with the abundance of her speech, With the flattery of her lips she forceth him.

22 He is going after her straightway, As an ox unto the slaughter he cometh, And as a fetter unto the chastisement of a fool,

23 Till an arrow doth split his liver, As a bird hath hastened unto a snare, And hath not known that it [is] for its life.

24 And now, ye sons, hearken to me, And give attention to sayings of my mouth.

25 Let not thy heart turn unto her ways, Do not wander in her paths,

26 For many [are] the wounded she caused to fall, And mighty [are] all her slain ones.

27 The ways of Sheol -- her house, Going down unto inner chambers of death!