1-5. Dear friend, do what I tell you;treasure my careful instructions.Do what I say and you’ll live well.My teaching is as precious as your eyesight—guard it!Write it out on the back of your hands;etch it on the chambers of your heart.Talk to Wisdom as to a sister.Treat Insight as your companion.They’ll be with you to fend off the Temptress—that smooth-talking, honey-tongued Seductress.
13-20. She threw her arms around him and kissed him,boldly took his arm and said,“I’ve got all the makings for a feast—today I made my offerings, my vows are all paid,So now I’ve come to find you,hoping to catch sight of your face—and here you are!I’ve spread fresh, clean sheets on my bed,colorful imported linens.My bed is aromatic with spicesand exotic fragrances.Come, let’s make love all night,spend the night in ecstatic lovemaking!My husband’s not home; he’s away on business,and he won’t be back for a month.”
21-23. Soon she has him eating out of her hand,bewitched by her honeyed speech.Before you know it, he’s trotting behind her,like a calf led to the butcher shop,Like a stag lured into ambushand then shot with an arrow,Like a bird flying into a netnot knowing that its flying life is over.
24-27. So, friends, listen to me,take these words of mine most seriously.Don’t fool around with a woman like that;don’t even stroll through her neighborhood.Countless victims come under her spell;she’s the death of many a poor man.She runs a halfway house to hell,fits you out with a shroud and a coffin.