1My son, keep my words,
2Keep my commandments and live; And my law as the apple of thine eye.
3Bind them upon thy fingers; Write them upon the tablet of thy heart.
4Say unto wisdom,
5That they may keep thee from the strange woman,
6For at the window of my house I looked forth through my lattice;
7And I beheld among the simple ones,
8Passing through the street near her corner; And he went the way to her house,
9In the twilight, in the evening of the day,
10And, behold, there met him a woman
11(She is clamorous and willfull; Her feet abide not in her house:
12Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places,
13So she caught him, and kissed him,
14Sacrifices of peace-offerings are with me; This day have I paid my vows.
15Therefore came I forth to meet thee,
16I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry,
17I have perfumed my bed
18Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning; Let us solace ourselves with loves.
19For the man is not at home; He is gone a long journey:
20He hath taken a bag of money with him; He will come home at the full moon.
21With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield; With the flattering of her lips she forceth him along.
22He goeth after her straightway,
23Till an arrow strike through his liver; As a bird hasteth to the snare,
24Now therefore, [my] sons, hearken unto me,
25Let not thy heart decline to her ways; Go not astray in her paths.
26For she hath cast down many wounded:
27Her house is the way to Sheol,