Proverbs 7

My son, obey the words I say to you; remember all my orders.

If you obey my commands, you will live. Consider my commands to be the most precious thing you possess, and obey them.

Write down my commands and tie them to your fingers to remind yourself of them; let it be as if you had written them in your inner self.

Think of wisdom as if it were a woman, one of your own sisters, whom you love; think of understanding as if it were a person, one of your own family, to whom you are loyal.

If you pay attention to that wisdom it will help you stay away from the immoral woman, the woman who speaks to you with seductive words, so that you might come to her, to be with her.

Standing in my house, I looked out of a window, through the wooden shade,

and I saw some young men who had not yet learned how to live wisely. I especially saw a young man there who had no good judgment.

He walked down the street near the house on the corner of the road, and he walked toward the house of the adulteress.

It was the time of day when night and darkness were coming near.

That was where the woman who was seeking an affair met the young man, and she greeted him. She was dressed as prostitutes dress, with seductive and enticing clothes, and she had secret plans.

She was loud and wayward, attracting attention. She did not stay in her own home.

She searched for a man as she walked along the streets one day; on another day she stood in the marketplace to find a man. At any street corner she waited for someone who would commit sin with her.

When she saw the young man, she firmly took hold of him, and then she kissed him. Without any shame and with great boldness, she said,

"Today I have meat in my house because I made a sacrifice in the temple to promise friendship with God. In this way I kept my vows to God,

and now I have come out here to meet you. I was looking for you, and now I have found you!

I have put on my bed sheets—the finest colored linen fabrics from Egypt.

I have sprinkled perfumes on my bed— myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

Come! Let us make love all night, until the morning comes. Let us enjoy ourselves with many ways of making love, as much as we want.

My husband is not at home; he has gone away on a long journey.

He filled a bag with money and took it with him; he will not come back until the middle of the month."

So she convinced the young man with her persuasive words; because of her smooth and convincing talk, he gave in to what she wanted to do.

All at once he follows her inside like an ox going to the place where it is killed and cut up into pieces, or like a deer that is caught in a trap

until the hunter comes and shoots an arrow that strikes the animal and kills it, or like a bird that flies into a trap but the bird does not know it will die there because it cannot get out of the trap.

My sons, listen to me, and pay careful attention to what I say to you.

You must resist her from within you, from deep inside. Do not decide to do what you want and follow her. You must decide that you will never follow her where she goes.

She has caused many men to be ruined; truly, no one can count the men she has destroyed—they are too many to count.

The road to her house is the road to the grave; it goes down to the place where the dead are kept.