1 My son, keep my words, And lay up my commandments with you.
2 Keep my commandments and live; And my law as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, You are my sister; And call understanding [your] kinswoman:
5 That they may keep you from the strange woman, From the foreigner who flatters with her words.
6 For at the window of my house I looked forth through my lattice;
7 And I saw 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, look, there met him a woman With the attire of a prostitute, and wily of heart.
11 She is clamorous and willful; Her feet do not stay in her house:
12 Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places, And lies in wait at every corner.
13 So she caught him, and kissed him, [And] with an impudent face she said to him:
14 Sacrifices of peace-offerings are with me; This day I have paid my vows.
15 Therefore I came forth to meet you, Diligently to seek your face, and I have found you.
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 has gone on a long journey:
20 He has taken a bag of money with him; He will come home at the full moon.
21 With her much fair speech she causes him to yield; With the flattering of her lips she forces him along.
22 He goes after her right away, As an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as [one in] fetters to the correction of the fool;
23 Until an arrow strikes through his liver; As a bird hurries to the snare, And does not know that it is for his life.
24 Now therefore, [my] sons, listen to me, And attend to the words of my mouth.
25 Don't let your heart decline to her ways; Don't go astray in her paths.
26 For she has cast down many wounded: Yes, all her slain are a mighty host.
27 Her house is the way to Sheol, Going down to the chambers of death.