[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 thykinswoman: [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 infetters 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.
