[1] Follow my advice, my son; always keep it in mind and stick to it. [2] Obey me and live! Guard my words as your most precious possession. [3] Write them down, and also keep them deep within your heart. [4] Love wisdom like a sweetheart; make her a beloved member of your family. [5] Let her hold you back from affairs with other women-from listening to their flattery. [6] I was looking out the window of my house one day [7] and saw a simpleminded lad, a young man lacking common sense, [8] walking at twilight down the street to the house of this wayward girl, a prostitute. [10] She approached him, saucy and pert, and dressed seductively. [11] She was the brash, coarse type, seen often in the streets and markets, soliciting at every corner for men to be her lovers. [13] She put her arms around him and kissed him, and with a saucy look she said, "I was just coming to look for you and here you are! [14] Come home with me, and I'll fix you a wonderful dinner, and after that-well, my bed is spread with lovely, colored sheets of finest linen imported from Egypt, perfumed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. [18] Come on, let's take our fill of love until morning, [19] for my husband is away on a long trip. [20] He has taken a wallet full of money with him and won't return for several days." [21] So she seduced him with her pretty speech, her coaxing and her wheedling, until he yielded to her. He couldn't resist her flattery. [22] He followed her as an ox going to the butcher or as a stag that is trapped, [23] waiting to be killed with an arrow through its heart. He was as a bird flying into a snare, not knowing the fate awaiting it there. [24] Listen to me, young men, and not only listen but obey; [25] don't let your desires get out of hand; don't let yourself think about her. Don't go near her; stay away from where she walks, lest she tempt you and seduce you. [26] For she has been the ruin of multitudes-a vast host of men have been her victims. [27] If you want to find the road to hell, look for her house.
