Proverbs 7 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
10th century BC, reign of Solomon (~970-930 BC)
Location
Ancient Israel (likely Jerusalem)
Audience
Young Israelite men, as wisdom instruction from father to son
Situation
A father urgently warns his son to guard his heart and avoid the adulterous woman, vividly describing her seduction of a naive young man leading to his ruin.
Key Background
Proverbs, attributed largely to King Solomon, is Hebrew wisdom literature teaching moral discernment through poetry and proverbs. Chapter 7 employs an extended narrative allegory where the seductive woman represents Folly, contrasting with Wisdom personified earlier in the book. This reflects ancient Israelite concerns over covenant fidelity, sexual immorality, and the life-or-death stakes of wise choices in an urban setting rife with temptation.
My son, on to what I'm telling you. Guard my like a treasure.
Follow my instructions and you'll thrive. Protect my the way you'd protect own
them them in
Say to "You're my sister," and call your
This will keep you safe from the other — from the stranger whose words drip with
I was at the window of my house one day, looking out through the shutters,
and I noticed the young and walking by. Among them I spotted a young man with no at all.
He was walking down the street near her corner, heading in the direction of her house,
in the of as the night grew dark and deep.
And there she was — a woman coming toward him, to with
She's and the kind who can't stay home.
One moment she's on the street, the next in the town square—lurking at every corner.
She grabbed him and kissed him. Then, as she said to him:
"I had to make a today — I just fulfilled my
So I came out looking for you—I just had to find you. And here you are!
I've made my bed gorgeous — sheets, beautifully colored.
I've perfumed my bed with aloes, and cinnamon.
Come on — let's of until morning. Let's lose ourselves in pleasure all night long.
My isn't home — he's gone on a long trip.
He took a bag of money with him. He won't be back until the
With all her she won over. With her she in.
And just like that, he followed her — like an ox to the like a a
until an — like a bird rushing headlong into a net, not knowing it will
So now, sons, listen to me. Pay close attention to what I'm saying.
Don't let your wander toward her path. Don't stray onto her roads.
She's brought down so many The list of men she's destroyed is endless.
Her house is the highway to the — a road that leads straight down to