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 punished
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.
