Pro 7:2 Keep my commandments and live, And my teaching as the apple of your eye.

Pro 7:3 Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.

Pro 7:4 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," And call understanding your intimate friend;

Pro 7:5 That they may keep you from an adulteress, From the foreigner who flatters with her words.

Pro 7:6 For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice,

Pro 7:7 And I saw among the naive, And discerned among the youths A young man lacking sense,

Pro 7:8 Passing through the street near her corner; And he takes the way to her house,

Pro 7:9 In the twilight, in the evening, In the middle of the night and in the darkness.

Pro 7:10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him, Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.

Pro 7:11 She is boisterous and rebellious, Her feet do not remain at home;

Pro 7:12 She is now in the streets, now in the squares, And lurks by every corner.

Pro 7:13 So she seizes him and kisses him And with a brazen face she says to him:

Pro 7:14 "I was due to offer peace offerings; Today I have paid my vows.

Pro 7:15 "Therefore I have come out to meet you, To seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you.

Pro 7:16 "I have spread my couch with coverings, With colored linens of Egypt.

Pro 7:17 "I have sprinkled my bed With myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

Pro 7:18 "Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with caresses.

Pro 7:19 "For my husband is not at home, He has gone on a long journey;

Pro 7:20 He has taken a bag of money with him, At the full moon he will come home."

Pro 7:21 With her many persuasions she entices him; With her flattering lips she seduces him.

Pro 7:22 Suddenly he follows her As an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool,

Pro 7:23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver; As a bird hastens to the snare, So he does not know that it will cost him his life.

Pro 7:24 Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

Pro 7:25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her paths.

Pro 7:26 For many are the victims she has cast down, And numerous are all her slain.

Pro 7:27 Her house is the way to Sheol, Descending to the chambers of death.

--------

Pro 8:1 Does not wisdom call, And understanding lift up her voice?

Pro 8:2 On top of the heights beside the way, Where the paths meet, she takes her stand;

Pro 8:3 Beside the gates, at the opening to the city, At the entrance of the doors, she cries out:

Pro 8:4 "To you, O men, I call, And my voice is to the sons of men.

Pro 8:5 "O naive ones, understand prudence; And, O fools, understand wisdom.

Pro 8:6 "Listen, for I will speak noble things; And the opening of my lips will reveal right things.

Pro 8:7 "For my mouth will utter truth; And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

Pro 8:8 "All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness; There is nothing crooked or perverted in them.

Pro 8:9 "They are all straightforward to him who understands, And right to those who find knowledge.

Pro 8:10 "Take my instruction and not silver, And knowledge rather than choicest gold.

Pro 8:11 "For wisdom is better than jewels; And all desirable things cannot compare with her.

Pro 8:12 "I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And I find knowledge and discretion.

Pro 8:13 "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate.

Pro 8:14 "Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine.

Pro 8:15 "By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice.

Pro 8:16 "By me princes rule, and nobles, All who judge rightly.

Pro 8:17 "I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.

Pro 8:18 "Riches and honor are with me, Enduring wealth and righteousness.

Pro 8:19 "My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, And my yield better than choicest silver.

Pro 8:20 "I walk in the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of justice,

Pro 8:21 To endow those who love me with wealth, That I may fill their treasuries.

Pro 8:22 "The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old.

Pro 8:23 "From everlasting I was established, From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.

Pro 8:24 "When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no springs abounding with water.

Pro 8:25 "Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills I was brought forth;

Pro 8:26 While He had not yet made the earth and the fields, Nor the first dust of the world.

Pro 8:27 "When He established the heavens, I was there, When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,

Pro 8:28 When He made firm the skies above, When the springs of the deep became fixed,

Pro 8:29 When He set for the sea its boundary So that the water would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth;

Pro 8:30 Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him,

Pro 8:31 Rejoicing in the world, His earth, And having my delight in the sons of men.

Pro 8:32 "Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, For blessed are they who keep my ways.

Pro 8:33 "Heed instruction and be wise, And do not neglect it.

Pro 8:34 "Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at my doorposts.

Pro 8:35 "For he who finds me finds life And obtains favor from the Lord.

Pro 8:36 "But he who sins against me injures himself; All those who hate me love death."

--------

Pro 9:1 Wisdom has built her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars;

Pro 9:2 She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine; She has also set her table;

Pro 9:3 She has sent out her maidens, she calls From the tops of the heights of the city:

Pro 9:4 "Whoever is naive, let him turn in here!" To him who lacks understanding she says,

Pro 9:5 "Come, eat of my food And drink of the wine I have mixed.

Pro 9:6 "Forsake your folly and live, And proceed in the way of understanding."

Pro 9:7 He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, And he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself.

Pro 9:8 Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you.

Pro 9:9 Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser, Teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning.

Pro 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Pro 9:11 For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you.

Pro 9:12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

Pro 9:13 The woman of folly is boisterous, She is naive and knows nothing.

Pro 9:14 She sits at the doorway of her house, On a seat by the high places of the city,

Pro 9:15 Calling to those who pass by, Who are making their paths straight:

Pro 9:16 "Whoever is naive, let him turn in here," And to him who lacks understanding she says,

Pro 9:17 "Stolen water is sweet; And bread eaten in secret is pleasant."

Pro 9:18 But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.