Book of Proverbs, Chapter 7
Proverbs 7 ASV - American Standard VersionChapter 7 of Proverbs—American Standard Version (ASV)
- ¶ My son, keep my words,
¶ And lay up my commandments with thee. - ¶ Keep my commandments and live;
¶ And my law as the apple of thine eye. - ¶ Bind them upon thy fingers;
¶ Write them upon the tablet of thy heart. - ¶ Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister;
¶ And call understanding thy [a]kinswoman: - ¶ That they may keep thee from the strange woman,
¶ From the foreigner that [b]flattereth with her words. - ¶ For at the window of my house
¶ I looked forth through my lattice; - ¶ And I beheld among the simple ones,
¶ I discerned among the youths,
¶ A young man void of understanding, - ¶ Passing through the street near her corner;
¶ And he went the way to her house, - ¶ In the twilight, in the evening of the day,
¶ In the [c]middle of the night and in the darkness. - ¶ And, behold, there met him a woman
¶ With the attire of a harlot, and [d]wily of heart. - ¶ (She is [e]clamorous and wilful;
¶ Her feet abide not in her house: - ¶ Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places,
¶ And lieth in wait at every corner.) - ¶ So she caught him, and kissed him,
¶ [f]And with an impudent face she said unto him: - ¶ Sacrifices of peace-offerings [g]are with me;
¶ This day have I paid my vows. - ¶ Therefore came I forth to meet thee,
¶ Diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. - ¶ I have spread my couch with [h]carpets of tapestry,
¶ With striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt. - ¶ I have [i]perfumed my bed
¶ With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. - ¶ Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning;
¶ Let us solace ourselves with loves. - ¶ For the man is not at home;
¶ He is gone a long journey: - ¶ He hath taken a bag of money with him;
¶ He will come home at the full moon. - ¶ With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield;
¶ With the flattering of her lips she forceth him along. - ¶ He goeth after her [j]straightway,
¶ As an ox goeth to the slaughter,
¶ Or as one in [k]fetters to the correction of the fool; - ¶ Till an arrow strike through his liver;
¶ As a bird hasteth to the snare,
¶ And knoweth not that it is for his life. - ¶ Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me,
¶ And attend to the words of my mouth. - ¶ Let not thy heart decline to her ways;
¶ Go not astray in her paths. - ¶ For she hath cast down many wounded:
¶ Yea, all her slain are a mighty host. - ¶ Her house is the way to Sheol,
¶ Going down to the chambers of death.
FOOTNOTES
- ^ Or, familiar friend
- ^ Hebrew maketh smooth her words.
- ^ Hebrew pupil (of the eye).
- ^ Or, close. Hebrew guarded.
- ^ Or, turbulent
- ^ Hebrew She hardened her face, and said.
- ^ Or, were due from me
- ^ Or, cushions
- ^ Or, sprinkled
- ^ Hebrew suddenly.
- ^ The Hebrew is obscure.
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