Chapter 7

The Wiles of the Harlot

1 My son, akeep my words

And treasure my commandments within you.

2 aKeep my commandments and live,

And my 1teaching bas the 2apple of your eye.

3 aBind them on your fingers;

bWrite them on the tablet of your heart.

4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

And call understanding your intimate friend;

5 That they may keep you from an 1adulteress,

From the foreigner who 2flatters with her words.

6 For aat the window of my house

I looked out bthrough my lattice,

7 And I saw among the 1anaive,

And discerned among the 2youths

A young man blacking 3sense,

8 Passing through the street near aher corner;

And he 1takes the way to bher house,

9 In the atwilight, in the 1evening,

In the 2middle of the night and in the darkness.

10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him,

aDressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.

11 She is aboisterous and rebellious,

Her bfeet do not remain at home;

12 She is now in the streets, now ain the squares,

And blurks by every corner.

13 So she seizes him and kisses him

1And with a abrazen face she says to him:

14 “1I was due to offer apeace offerings;

Today I have bpaid my vows.

15 “Therefore I have come out to meet you,

To seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you.

16 “I have spread my couch with acoverings,

With colored blinens of Egypt.

17 “I have sprinkled my bed

With amyrrh, aloes and bcinnamon.

18 “Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning;

Let us delight ourselves with caresses.

19 “For 1my husband is not at home,

He has gone on a long journey;

20 He has taken a abag of money 1with him,

At the full moon he will come home.”

21 With her many persuasions she entices him;

With her 1aflattering lips she seduces him.

22 Suddenly he follows her

As an ox goes to the slaughter,

Or as 1one in fetters to the discipline of a fool,

23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver;

As a abird hastens to the snare,

So he does not know that it will cost him his life.

24 Now therefore, my sons, alisten to me,

And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

25 Do not let your heart aturn aside to her ways,

Do not stray into her paths.

26 For many are the 1victims she has cast down,

And anumerous are all her slain.

27 Her ahouse is the way to Sheol,

Descending to the chambers of death.

Chapter 8

The Commendation of Wisdom

1 Does not awisdom call,

And understanding 1lift up her voice?

2 On top of athe heights beside the way,

Where the paths meet, she takes her stand;

3 Beside the agates, at the opening to the city,

At the entrance of the doors, she cries out:

4 “To you, O men, I call,

And my voice is to the sons of men.

5 “O 1anaive ones, understand prudence;

And, O bfools, understand 2wisdom.

6 “Listen, for I will speak anoble things;

And the opening of my lips will reveal bright things.

7 “For my amouth will utter truth;

And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

8 “All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness;

There is nothing acrooked or perverted in them.

9 “They are all astraightforward to him who understands,

And right to those who bfind knowledge.

10 “Take my ainstruction and not silver,

And knowledge rather than choicest gold.

11 “For wisdom is abetter than 1jewels;

And ball desirable things cannot compare with her.

12 “I, wisdom, adwell with prudence,

And I find bknowledge and discretion.

13 “The afear of the Lord is to hate evil;

bPride and arrogance and cthe evil way

And the dperverted mouth, I hate.

14 “aCounsel is mine and bsound wisdom;

I am understanding, cpower is mine.

15 “By me akings reign,

And rulers decree justice.

16 “By me princes rule, and nobles,

All who judge rightly.

17 “I alove those who love me;

And bthose who diligently seek me will find me.

18 “aRiches and honor are with me,

Enduring bwealth and righteousness.

19 “My fruit is abetter than gold, even pure gold,

And my yield better than bchoicest silver.

20 “I walk in the way of righteousness,

In the midst of the paths of justice,

21 To endow those who love me with wealth,

That I may afill their treasuries.

22 “The Lord possessed me aat the beginning of His way,

Before His works 1of old.

23 “From everlasting I was 1aestablished,

From the beginning, bfrom the earliest times of the earth.

24 “When there were no adepths I was 1brought forth,

When there were no springs abounding with water.

25 “aBefore the mountains were settled,

Before the hills I was 1brought forth;

26 While He had not yet made the earth and the 1fields,

Nor the first dust of the world.

27 “When He aestablished the heavens, I was there,

When bHe inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,

28 When He made firm the skies above,

When the springs of the deep became 1fixed,

29 When aHe set for the sea its boundary

So that the water would not transgress His 1command,

When He marked out bthe foundations of the earth;

30 Then aI was beside Him, as a master workman;

And I was daily His delight,

1Rejoicing always before Him,

31 1Rejoicing in the world, His earth,

And having amy delight in the sons of men.

32 “Now therefore, O sons, alisten to me,

For bblessed are they who keep my ways.

33 “aHeed instruction and be wise,

And do not neglect it.

34 “aBlessed is the man who listens to me,

Watching daily at my gates,

Waiting at my doorposts.

35 “For ahe who finds me finds life

And bobtains favor from the Lord.

36 “But he who 1sins against me ainjures himself;

All those who bhate me clove death.”

Chapter 9

Wisdom’s Invitation

1 Wisdom has abuilt her house,

She has hewn out her seven pillars;

2 She has 1aprepared her food, she has bmixed her wine;

She has also cset her table;

3 She has asent out her maidens, she bcalls

From the ctops of the heights of the city:

4 “aWhoever is 1naive, let him turn in here!”

To him who blacks 2understanding she says,

5 “Come, aeat of my food

And drink of the wine I have mixed.

6 “1Forsake your folly and alive,

And bproceed in the way of understanding.”

7 He who acorrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself,

And he who reproves a wicked man gets 1insults for himself.

8 aDo not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you,

bReprove a wise man and he will love you.

9 Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser,

Teach a righteous man and he will aincrease his learning.

10 The afear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,

And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

11 For aby me your days will be multiplied,

And years of life will be added to you.

12 If you are wise, you are wise afor yourself,

And if you bscoff, you alone will bear it.

13 The 1woman of folly is aboisterous,

She is 2naive and bknows nothing.

14 She sits at the doorway of her house,

On a seat by athe high places of the city,

15 Calling to those who pass by,

Who are making their paths straight:

16 “aWhoever is 1naive, let him turn in here,”

And to him who lacks 2understanding she says,

17 “Stolen water is sweet;

And abread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

18 But he does not know that the 1dead are there,

That her guests are in the adepths of Sheol.