| 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 [thy] kinswoman: |
| 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 in] fetters 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. |
