Proverbs 7; Proverbs 8; Proverbs 9

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Proverbs 7

1 My son, keep my words; store up my commands within you.
2 Keep my commands and live, and my instruction like the pupil of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister"; call understanding "friend,"
5 so she might guard you against the mysterious woman, from the foreign woman who flatters you.
6 When from the window of my house, from behind the screen, I gazed down,
7 I looked among the naive young men and noticed among the youth, one who had no sense.
8 He was crossing the street at her corner and walked down the path to her house
9 in the early evening, at the onset of night and darkness.
10 All of a sudden a woman approaches him, dressed like a prostitute and with a cunning mind.
11 She is noisy and defiant; her feet don't stay long in her own house.
12 She has one foot in the street, one foot in the public square. She lies in wait at every corner.
13 She grabs him and kisses him. Her face is brazen as she speaks to him:
14 "I've made a sacrifice of well-being; today I fulfilled my solemn promises.
15 So I've come out to meet you, seeking you, and I have found you.
16 I've spread my bed with luxurious covers, with colored linens from Egypt.
17 I've sprinkled my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let's drink deep of love until morning; let's savor our lovemaking.
19 For my husband isn't home; he's gone far away.
20 He took a pouch of money with him; he won't come home till full moon."
21 She seduces him with all her talk. She entices him with her flattery.
22 He goes headlong after her, like an ox to the slaughter, like a deer leaping into a trap,
23 until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird hurrying to the snare, not aware that it will cost him his life.
24 Now children, listen to me, and pay attention to my speech.
25 Don't turn your heart to her ways; don't wander down her paths.
26 She has caused many corpses to fall; she has killed many people.
27 Her house is a path to the grave, going down to the chambers of death.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible

Proverbs 8

1 Doesn't Wisdom cry out and Understanding shout?
2 Atop the heights along the path, at the crossroads she takes her stand.
3 By the gate before the city, at the entrances she shouts:
4 I cry out to you, people; my voice goes out to all of humanity.
5 Understand skill, you who are naive. Take this to heart, you fools.
6 Listen, for I speak things that are correct; from my lips comes what is right.
7 My mouth utters the truth; my lips despise wickedness.
8 All the words of my mouth are righteous; nothing in them is twisted or crooked.
9 All of them are straightforward to those who understand, and upright for the knowledgeable.
10 Take my instruction rather than silver, knowledge rather than choice gold.
11 Wisdom is better than pearls; nothing is more delightful than she.
12 I, Wisdom, dwell with prudence; I have found knowledge and discretion.
13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil. I hate pride and arrogance, the path of evil and corrupt speech.
14 I have advice and ability, as well as understanding and strength.
15 By me kings rule, and princes issue righteous decrees.
16 By me rulers govern, and officials judge righteously.
17 I love those who love me; those who seek me will find me.
18 Riches and honor are with me, as well as enduring wealth and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold; my crops are better than choice silver.
20 I walk on the way of righteousness, on the paths of justice,
21 to provide for those who love me and to fill up their treasuries.
22 The LORD created me at the beginning of his way, before his deeds long in the past.
23 I was formed in ancient times, at the beginning, before the earth was.
24 When there were no watery depths, I was brought forth, when there were no springs flowing with water.
25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth;
26 before God made the earth and the fields or the first of the dry land.
27 I was there when he established the heavens, when he marked out the horizon on the deep sea,
28 when he thickened the clouds above, when he secured the fountains of the deep,
29 when he set a limit for the sea, so the water couldn't go beyond his command, when he marked out the earth's foundations.
30 I was beside him as a master of crafts. I was having fun, smiling before him all the time,
31 frolicking with his inhabited earth and delighting in the human race.
32 Now children, listen to me: Happy are those who keep to my ways!
33 Listen to instruction, and be wise; don't avoid it.
34 Happy are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorposts.
35 Those who find me find life; they gain favor from the LORD.
36 Those who offend me injure themselves; all those who hate me love death.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible

Proverbs 9

1 Wisdom built her house; she has carved out her seven pillars.
2 She slaughtered her animals, mixed her wine, and set her table.
3 She sends out her female servants; she issues an invitation from the top of the city heights:
4 "Whoever is naive turn aside here," she says to those who lack sense.
5 "Come, eat my food, and drink the wine I have mixed.
6 Abandon your simplistic ways and live; walk in the way of understanding."
7 Whoever instructs the cynic gets insulted; whoever corrects the wicked gets hurt.
8 Don't correct the impudent, or they will hate you; correct the wise, and they will love you.
9 Teach the wise, and they will become wiser; inform the righteous, and their learning will increase.
10 The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the LORD; the knowledge of the holy one is understanding.
11 Through me your days will be many; years will be added to your life.
12 If you are wise, it is to your benefit; if you are cynical, you will bear it all alone.
13 Woman Folly is noisy; she's stupid and doesn't even know it.
14 She sits at the doorway of her house, on a seat at the city heights.
15 She invites those who pass by on the path, those going straight on their way.
16 "Whoever is naive, come in here," she says to those who lack sense.
17 "Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is pleasant."
18 But they don't know that the dead are there; her guests are in the depths of the grave.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible