Leeser(i)
20 Keep, O my son, the commandment of thy father, and reject not the teaching of thy mother:
21 Bind them upon thy heart continually, tie them about thy throat.
22 When thou walkest, it shall lead thee; when thou liest down, it shall watch over thee; and when thou art awake, it shall converse with thee.
23 For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light; and the way of life are the admonitions of correction:
24 To guard thee against a bad woman, from the flattery of an alien tongue.
25 Covet not her beauty in thy heart, and let her not conquer thee with her eyelids.
26 For by means of a harlot one is brought down to the last loaf of bread: and an adulterous woman will even hunt for the precious life,
27 Can a man gather up fire in his lap, and shall his clothes not be burnt?
28 Can a man walk along upon hot coals, and shall his feet not be burnt?
29 So it is with him that goeth in to his neighbor’s wife: no one that toucheth her shall remain unpunished.
30 Men do not despise the thief, if he steal, to gratify his craving when he is hungry:
31 And if he be found, he must pay sevenfold; all the wealth his house must he give.
32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh sense: he that is the destroyer of his soul, will alone do this.
33 Plague and disgrace will he meet with; and his reproach will not be blotted out.
34 For jealousy is the fury of a husband, and he will not spare on the day of vengeance.
35 He will not regard the appearance of any ransom; and he will not be content, though thou give ever so many bribes.
7 1 My son, observe my sayings, and my commandments must thou treasure up with thee.
2 Observe my commandments, and live: and my teaching as the apple of thy eyes.
3 Bind them around thy fingers, write them upon the table of thy heart.
4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:
5 That they may keep thee from an adulterous woman, from an alien that useth flattering speeches.
6 For through the window of my house, through my lattice did I once look out,
7 And I beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a lad void of sense;
8 He was passing through the market-place near her corner; and he stepped along on the way to her house,
9 In the twilight, in the evening of the day, in the depth of the night and when it was dark:
10 And, behold, a woman came to meet him with the attire of a harlot, and obdurate of heart.
11 (She is noisy and ungovernable; in her house her feet never rest;
12 At one time she is in the street, at another in the open places, and near every corner doth she lurk,)
13 And she caught hold of him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face she said to him,
14 “I had bound myself to bring peace-offerings; this day have I paid my vows:
15 Therefore am I come forth to meet thee, to seek thy presence diligently, and I have found thee.
16 With tapestry coverings have I decked my bed, with embroidered coverlids of the fine linen of Egypt.
17 I have sprinkled my couch with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us indulge in love until the morning: let us delight ourselves with dalliances.
19 For the man is not in his house, he is gone on a journey a great way off:
20 The bag of money hath he taken with him, by the day of the new-moon festival only will he come home.”
21 She seduced him by the abundance of her reasoning: by the flattery of her lips she misguided him.
22 He followed after her suddenly, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, and as in fetters to his correction, the fool:
23 Till an arrow cleaveth through his liver; as a bird hasteneth into the snare, and knoweth not that it is done to take his life.
24 And now, O children, hearken unto me, and listen to the sayings of my mouth.
25 Let not thy heart turn aside to her ways, do not go astray on her paths.
26 For many deadly wounded hath she caused to fall: yea, very numerous are all those slain by her.
27 The ways to the nether world is her house leading down to the chambers of death.