• The Lures of the Prostitute

  • 1 My son, keep my words And treasure my commandments within you.
  • 2 Keep my commandments and live, And my teaching 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 intimate friend,
  • 5 So that they may keep you from an adulteress, From the foreigner who flatters with her words.
  • 6 For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice,
  • 7 And I saw among the naive, And discerned among the youths A young man lacking sense,
  • 8 Passing through the street near her corner; And he walks along the way to her house,
  • 9 In the twilight, in the evening, In the middle of the night and the darkness.
  • 10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him, Dressed as a prostitute and cunning of heart.
  • 11 She is boisterous and rebellious, Her feet do not remain at home;
  • 12 She is now in the streets, now in the public squares, And lurks by every corner.
  • 13 So she seizes him and kisses him, And with a brazen face she says to him:
  • 14 “I was due to offer peace offerings; Today I have paid my vows.
  • 15 “Therefore I have come out to meet you, To seek your presence diligently, and I have found you.
  • 16 “I have spread my couch with coverings, With colored linens of Egypt.
  • 17 “I have sprinkled my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
  • 18 “Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning; Let’s delight ourselves with caresses.
  • 19 “For my husband is not at home; He has gone on a long journey.
  • 20 “He has taken a bag of money with him. At the full moon he will come home.”
  • 21 With her many persuasions she entices him; With her flattering lips she seduces him.
  • 22 Suddenly he follows her As an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as one walks in ankle bracelets to the discipline of a fool,
  • 23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver; As a bird hurries to the snare, So he does not know that it will cost him his life.
  • 24 Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
  • 25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her paths.
  • 26 For many are the victims she has brought to ruin, And numerous are all those slaughtered by her.
  • 27 Her house is the way to Sheol, Descending to the chambers of death.