If they say, "Come with us! We will lie in wait to shed blood; we will ambush an innocent person capriciously.

For their feet run to evil
And they hasten to shed blood.

Wisdom shouts in the street,
She lifts her voice in the square;

At the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:

she who forsakes the partner of her youth and has forgotten the covenant of her God,

For she hath appointed, unto death, her house, and unto the shades, her courses;

for she is more profitable than silver,
and her revenue is better than gold.

She is more precious than jewels;
And nothing you desire compares with her.

She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,
And happy are all who hold her fast.

“Do not forsake her, and she will guard you;
Love her, and she will watch over you.

“Prize her, and she will exalt you;
She will honor you if you embrace her.

“She will place on your head a garland of grace;
She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

Take hold of instruction; do not let go.
Guard her, for she is your life.

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.

She does not ponder the path of life;
Her ways are unstable, she does not know it.

[She is] a deer of love and a doe of grace; may her breasts satisfy you {always}; by her love may you be intoxicated continually.

She hath no guide, no teacher, no leader:

She gets her meat in the summer, storing up food at the time of the grain-cutting.

Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,

During your travels wisdom will lead you; she will watch over you while you rest; and when you are startled from your sleep, she will commune with you.

Do not desire her beauty in your heart; may she not capture you with her eyelashes.

That she may keep thee from the strange woman, and from the harlot which giveth sweet words.

Suddenly a woman came out to meet him! She was dressed like a prostitute and with secret intent.

She is boisterous and rebellious,
Her feet do not remain at home;

She is now in the streets, now in the squares,
And lurks by every corner.

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

With her many persuasions she entices him;
With her flattering lips she seduces him.

so long till she hath wounded his liver with her dart: like as if a bird hasted to the snare, not knowing that the peril of his life lieth thereupon.

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

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

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

"It is you, O ye men," sayeth she, "whom I call! Unto you, O ye children of men, lift I up my voice.

Wisdom has built her house,
She has hewn out her seven pillars;

She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine;
She has also set her table;

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

“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here!”
To him who lacks understanding she says,

The woman of folly is boisterous,
She is naive and knows nothing.

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

Crying out to those who go by, going straight on their way, she says:

“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”
And to him who lacks understanding she says,

A ring of gold in the nose of a swine, a fair woman and she departed from discernment

An excellent wife is the crown of her husband,
But she who shames him is like rottenness in his bones.

The words of the wicked lie in wait to shed innocent blood, but the words of the upright will deliver them.

Wisdom has her resting-place in the mind of the wise, but she is not seen among the foolish.

It were better to come against a she Bear robbed of her whelps, than against a fool in his foolishness.

He withholding his words will shew knowledge: I man of understanding is a cool spirit

A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

Shew not thyself friendly with an angry man, And with a man of fury go not in,

Give ear to your father whose child you are, and do not keep honour from your mother when she is old.

Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.

Yes, she is waiting secretly like a beast for its food, and deceit by her is increased among men.

Whoever attempts to restrain her [criticism] might as well try to stop the wind,
And grasps oil with his right hand.

The eye which makes sport of a father, and sees no value in a mother when she is old will be rooted out by the ravens of the valley, and be food for the young eagles.

Such is the way of an adulterous woman: she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

Under three things, a land is stirred, yea, under four, she cannot bear up:

under an odious woman when she is married, and a handmaid when she is heir to her mistress.

thou takest hold of the lizard with the hands, yet is she in kings' palaces.

Whoso findeth a honest faithful woman, she is much more worth than pearls.

She doeth him good, and not evil, all the days of her life.

She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

She is like the merchants' ships: she bringeth her food from afar;

And she riseth while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and the day's work to her maidens.

She considereth a field, and acquireth it; of the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

She girdeth her loins with strength, and maketh strong her arms.

She perceiveth that her earning is good; her lamp goeth not out by night.

She putteth her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle.

She stretcheth out her hand to the afflicted, and she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

She is not afraid of the snow for her household; for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

She maketh herself coverlets; her clothing is byssus and purple.

She maketh body linen and selleth it, and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laugheth at the coming day.

She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and upon her tongue is the law of kindness.

She surveyeth the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

Gracefulness is deceitful and beauty is vain; a woman that feareth Jehovah, she shall be praised.

Give her credit for what she has accomplished, and let her works praise her in the city gates.