My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
3 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.
4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:
5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.
6 For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,
7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
8 Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,
9 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:
12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)
13 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,
14 I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.
15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
16 I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.
19 For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:
20 He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.
21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
24 Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.
25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
This proverb starts off like most of them have so far with the father calling to his son to listen to wisdom. I like how it says to call wisdom your sister or intimate friend. There is a call to Scripture memorization. Also, it tells us that keeping God's commands is a life or death matter in verse 2.
ReplyDeleteThere is something here that reminds me of Psalm 1. In verse 8 and verse 11, the male and the female are both deliberately wandering around and not at home with their families. This sounds just like the man who walks in the council of the ungodly. Then he stands still and listens to sinners. Then he sits down and spends time with the scornful. The same road is taken here. Both people are looking for something other than what belongs to them.
ReplyDeleteMore verses about adultery. What? You say you aren't planning on committing fornication or adultery? Neither am I, but I don't think anyone else is either. It's not something you plan. It happens "unintentionally," "out of the blue," "accidentally." The problem with saying this is that neither partner is a victim. Both could have chosen differently. The trouble is that once you are in the situation, it is seemingly impossible to get out of it. Just like the stag caught fast or the the bird in the snare, it's too late by then. But back up. The bird "rushes into a snare." There are ways to avoid being in that position in the first place. Look all the way back to verse 7. It is the simple person who lacks sense. Then in verse 25 it says not to turn aside into her ways or stray into her paths. The choice comes at a time when there is no apparent sin. Is it wrong to walk down that certain street? Not necessarily, but that is the choice that the simple man makes that leads to his death. May we study Proverbs with the urgency of keeping ourselves out of the path of sin.
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