The foolishness of unfaithfulness

1My son, pay close attention

and don't forget

what I tell you to do.

2Obey me, and you will live!

Let my instructions be

your greatest treasure.

3Keep them at your fingertips

and write them

in your mind.

4Let wisdom be your sister

and make common sense

your closest friend.

5They will protect you

from the flattering words

of someone else's wife.

6From the window of my house,

I once happened to see

7some foolish young men.

8It was late in the evening,

some time after dark.

9One of these young men

turned the corner

and was walking by the house

of an unfaithful wife.

10She was dressed up

like a woman of the street

with only one thing in mind.

11She was one of those women

who are loud and restless

and never stay at home,

12who walk street after street,

waiting to trap a man.

13She grabbed him and kissed him,

and with no sense of shame,

she said:

14“I had to offer a sacrifice,

and there is enough meat

left over for a feast.

15So I came looking for you,

and here you are!

16The sheets on my bed

are bright-coloured cloth

from Egypt.

17And I have covered it

with perfume made of myrrh,

aloes, and cinnamon.

18“Let's go there

and make love all night.

19My husband is travelling,

and he's far away.

20He took a lot of money along,

and he won't be back home

before the middle

of the month.”

21And so, she tricked him

with all her sweet talk

and her flattery.

22Straight away he followed her

like an ox on the way

to be slaughtered,

or like a fool on the way

to be punished7.22 a fool…punished: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

23and killed with arrows.

He was no more than a bird

rushing into a trap,

without knowing

it would cost him his life.

24My son, pay close attention

to what I have said.

25Don't even think about

that kind of woman

or let yourself be misled

by someone like her.

26Such a woman has caused

the downfall and destruction

of a lot of men.

27Her house is a one-way street

leading straight down

to the world of the dead.