1My son, keep my words, and hide with thee my commandments.

1My son, honour the Lord, and thou shalt be strong; and fear none but him:

2keep my commandments, and thou shalt live; and keep my words as the pupils of thine eyes.

3And bind them on thy fingers, and write them on the table of thine heart.

4Say that wisdom is thy sister, and gain prudence as an acquaintance for thyself;

5that she may keep thee from the strange and wicked woman, if she should assail thee with flattering words.

6For she looks from a window out of her house into the streets, at one whom she may see of the senseless ones, a young man void of understanding,

7passing by the corner in the passages ²⁷near her house,

8and speaking, in the dark of the evening,

9when there happens to be the stillness of night and of darkness:

10and the woman meets him having the appearance of a harlot, that causes the hearts of young men to flutter.

11And she is fickle, and debauched, and her feet abide not at home.

12For at one time she wanders without, and at another time she lies in wait in the streets, at every corner.

13Then she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said to him,

14I have a peace-offering; to-day I pay my vows:

15therefore I came forth to meet thee, desiring thy face; and I have found thee.

16I have spread my bed with sheets, and I have covered it with double tapestry from Egypt.

17I have sprinkled my couch with saffron, and my house with cinnamon.

18Come, and let us enjoy love until the morning; come, and let us embrace in love.

19For my husband is not at home, but is gone on a long journey,

20having taken in his hand a bundle of money: after many days he will return to his house.

21So with much converse she prevailed on him to go astray, and with the snares of her lips she forced him from the right path.

22And he followed her, being gently led on, and that as an ox is led to the slaughter, and as a dog to bonds, or as a hart shot in the liver with an arrow:

23and he hastens as a bird into a snare, not knowing that he is running for his life.

24Now then, my son, hearken to me, and attend to the words of my mouth.

25Let not thine heart turn aside to her ways: ²⁸

26for she has wounded and cast down many, and those whom she has slain are innumerable.

27Her house is the ²⁹way of hell, leading down to the chambers of death.