7 My child, remember what I say and never forget what I tell you to do. ² Do what I say, and you will live. Be as careful to follow my teaching as you are to protect your eyes. ³ Keep my teaching with you all the time; write it on your heart. ⁴ Treat wisdom as your sister, and insight as your closest friend. ⁵ They will keep you away from other men's wives, from women with seductive words.

The Immoral Woman

⁶ Once I was looking out the window of my house, ⁷ and I saw many inexperienced young men, but noticed one foolish fellow in particular. ⁸ He was walking along the street near the corner where a certain woman lived. He was passing near her house ⁹ in the evening after it was dark. ¹⁰ And then she met him; she was dressed like a prostitute and was making plans. ¹¹ She was a bold and shameless woman who always walked the streets ¹² or stood waiting at a corner, sometimes in the streets, sometimes in the marketplace. ¹³ She threw her arms around the young man, kissed him, looked him straight in the eye, and said, ¹⁴ “I made my offerings today and have the meat from the sacrifices. ¹⁵ So I came out looking for you. I wanted to find you, and here you are! ¹⁶ I've covered my bed with sheets of colored linen from Egypt. ¹⁷ I've perfumed it with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. ¹⁸ Come on! Let's make love all night long. We'll be happy in each other's arms. ¹⁹ My husband isn't at home. He's on a long trip. ²⁰ He took plenty of money with him and won't be back for two weeks.” ²¹ So she tempted him with her charms, and he gave in to her smooth talk. ²² Suddenly he was going with her like an ox on the way to be slaughtered, like a deer prancing into a trap^{[a] 23} where an arrow would pierce its heart. He was like a bird going into a net—he did not know that his life was in danger.

²⁴ Now then, sons, listen to me. Pay attention to what I say. ²⁵ Do not let such a woman win your heart; don't go wandering after her. ²⁶ She has been the ruin of many men and caused the death of too many to count. ²⁷ If you go to her house, you are on the way to the world of the dead. It is a shortcut to death.