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 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.

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

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.

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:

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,

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

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

Listen to your father who begot you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old.

Surely she lurks as a robber,
And increases the faithless among men.

This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth,
And says, “I have done no wrong.”

Under an unloved woman when she gets a husband,
And a maidservant when she supplants her mistress.

She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.

She looks for wool and flax
And works with her hands in delight.

She is like merchant ships;
She brings her food from afar.

She rises also while it is still night
And gives food to her household
And portions to her maidens.

She considers a field and buys it;
From her earnings she plants a vineyard.

She girds herself with strength
And makes her arms strong.

She senses that her gain is good;
Her lamp does not go out at night.

She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hands grasp the spindle.

She extends her hand to the poor,
And she stretches out her hands to the needy.

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

She makes coverings for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies belts to the tradesmen.

Strength and dignity are her clothing,
And she smiles at the future.

She opens her mouth in wisdom,
And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

She looks well to the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.