Warnings about the Adulteress 1 UDB My son, obey the words I say to you; remember all my orders. BSB BSB: My son, keep my words and treasure my commandments within you.
2 UDB If you obey my commands, you will live. Consider my commands to be the most precious thing you possess, and obey them. BSB BSB: Keep my commandments and live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
3 UDB Write down my commands and tie them to your fingers to remind yourself of them; let it be as if you had written them in your inner self. BSB BSB: Tie them to your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 UDB Think of wisdom as if it were a woman, one of your own sisters, whom you love; think of understanding as if it were a person, one of your own family, to whom you are loyal. BSB BSB: Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your kinsman,
5 UDB If you pay attention to that wisdom it will help you stay away from the immoral woman, the woman who speaks to you with seductive words, so that you might come to her, to be with her. BSB BSB: that they may keep you from the adulteress, from the stranger with seductive words.
6 UDB Standing in my house, I looked out of a window, through the wooden shade, BSB BSB: For at the window of my house I looked through the lattice.
7 UDB and I saw some young men who had not yet learned how to live wisely. I especially saw a young man there who had no good judgment. BSB BSB: I saw among the simple, I noticed among the youths, a young man lacking judgment,
8 UDB He walked down the street near the house on the corner of the road, and he walked toward the house of the adulteress. BSB BSB: crossing the street near her corner, strolling down the road to her house,
9 UDB It was the time of day when night and darkness were coming near. BSB BSB: at twilight, as the day was fading into the dark of the night.
10 UDB That was where the woman who was seeking an affair met the young man, and she greeted him. She was dressed as prostitutes dress, with seductive and enticing clothes, and she had secret plans. BSB BSB: Then a woman came out to meet him, with the attire of a harlot and cunning of heart.
11 UDB She was loud and wayward, attracting attention. She did not stay in her own home. BSB BSB: She is loud and defiant; her feet do not remain at home.
12 UDB She searched for a man as she walked along the streets one day; on another day she stood in the marketplace to find a man. At any street corner she waited for someone who would commit sin with her. BSB BSB: Now in the street, now in the squares, she lurks at every corner.
13 UDB When she saw the young man, she firmly took hold of him, and then she kissed him. Without any shame and with great boldness, she said, BSB BSB: She seizes him and kisses him; she brazenly says to him:
14 UDB "Today I have meat in my house because I made a sacrifice in the temple to promise friendship with Yahweh. In this way I kept my vows to Yahweh, BSB BSB: “I have made my peace offerings; today I have paid my vows.
15 UDB and now I have come out here to meet you. I was looking for you, and now I have found you! BSB BSB: So I came out to meet you; I sought you, and I have found you.
16 UDB I have put on my bed sheets—the finest colored linen fabrics from Egypt. BSB BSB: I have decked my bed with coverings, with colored linen from Egypt.
17 UDB I have sprinkled perfumes on my bed— myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. BSB BSB: I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, with aloes, and with cinnamon.
18 UDB Come! Let us make love all night, until the morning comes. Let us enjoy ourselves with many ways of making love, as much as we want. BSB BSB: Come, let us take our fill of love till morning. Let us delight in loving caresses!
19 UDB My husband is not at home; he has gone away on a long journey. BSB BSB: For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey.
20 UDB He filled a bag with money and took it with him; he will not come back until the middle of the month." BSB BSB: He took with him a bag of money and will not return till the moon is full.”
21 UDB So she convinced the young man with her persuasive words; because of her smooth and convincing talk, he gave in to what she wanted to do. BSB BSB: With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him.
22 UDB All at once he follows her inside like an ox going to the place where it is killed and cut up into pieces, or like a deer that is caught in a trap BSB BSB: He follows her on impulse, like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding into a trap,
23 UDB until the hunter comes and shoots an arrow that strikes the animal and kills it, or like a bird that flies into a trap but the bird does not know it will die there because it cannot get out of the trap. BSB BSB: until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare—not knowing it will cost him his life.
24 UDB My sons, listen to me, and pay careful attention to what I say to you. BSB BSB: Now, my sons, listen to me, and attend to the words of my mouth.
25 UDB You must resist her from within you, from deep inside. Do not decide to do what you want and follow her. You must decide that you will never follow her where she goes. BSB BSB: Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths.
26 UDB She has caused many men to be ruined; truly, no one can count the men she has destroyed—they are too many to count. BSB BSB: For she has brought many down to death; her slain are many in number.
27 UDB The road to her house is the road to the grave; it goes down to the place where the dead are kept. BSB BSB: Her house is the road to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.