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7:1  My son, ·remember what I say [guard my speech], and ·treasure [store/hide in you] my commands.
7:2  ·Obey [Guard] my commands, and you will live. Guard my ·teachings [instructions] ·as you would your own [L like the apple of your] eyes.
7:3  ·Remind yourself of them [L Bind them on your fingers]; write them on your heart as if on a tablet.
7:4  ·Treat wisdom as a sister [L Say to Wisdom, “You are my sister”; 1:20–33; 8:1—9:6], and ·make understanding your closest friend [L call Understanding “Friend”].
7:5  ·Wisdom and understanding [L She] will ·keep you away [guard you] from ·adultery [L the strange woman], away from the ·unfaithful wife [L foreign woman] and her ·pleasing [flattering] words.
7:6  Once while I was at the window of my house I looked out through the ·shutters [lattice; curtains]
7:7  and saw some ·foolish [simpleminded; immature; naive], young men. I noticed one of them ·had no wisdom [had no sense; L lacked heart].
7:8  He was ·walking down [crossing] the street near the corner on the road leading to her house.
7:9  It was the twilight of the evening; the darkness of the night was just beginning.
7:10  Then the woman ·approached [or propositioned] him, dressed like a prostitute and ·planning to trick him [L with a guarded heart].
7:11  She was ·loud [boisterous; noisy] and ·stubborn [defiant] and ·never stayed at [L her feet do not rest in her own] home.
7:12  ·She was always out [L A foot] in the streets ·or in [L a foot in] the city squares, ·waiting around [lurking] on the corners of the streets.
7:13  She grabbed him and kissed him. ·Without shame [L Her face was brazen as] she said to him,
7:14  “I made my fellowship offering [Lev. 3; 7:11–21; C the offerer ate the meat of the offering]. Today I have ·kept [paid back] my ·special promises [vows].
7:15  So I have come out to meet you; I have been ·looking for you [L seeking your face] and have found you.
7:16  I have ·covered [ornamented] my bed with colored sheets from Egypt.
7:17  I have ·made my bed smell sweet [L sprinkled my bed] with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
7:18  Come, let’s ·make [be intoxicated with] love until morning. Let’s ·enjoy each other’s [rejoice in] love.
7:19  My husband is not home; he has gone on a ·long [faraway] trip.
7:20  He took a ·lot of money with him [L pouch of money in his hand] and won’t be home ·for weeks [L until the new moon].”
7:21  By her clever words she ·made him give in [seduces him]; by ·her pleasing words [L the flattery of her lips] she ·led him into doing wrong [persuades/compels him].
7:22  All at once he followed her, like an ox led to the ·butcher [slaughter], like a ·deer caught in a trap [or fool to the stocks]
7:23  ·and shot through the liver with an arrow [until an arrow pierces his liver]. Like a bird ·caught in [L hurrying to] a trap, he didn’t know ·what he did would kill him [it would cost him his life].
7:24  Now, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to ·what I say [L the speech of my mouth].
7:25  Don’t ·let yourself be tricked by such a woman [L turn your heart to her paths]; don’t ·go where she leads you [wander onto her paths].
7:26  She has ·ruined many good men [L caused many corpses to fall], and many ·have died because of her [are those she has killed].
7:27  Her house is on the ·road [path] to ·death [L Sheol; C the grave or the underworld], ·the road that leads down to the grave [L going down to the chambers of death].