Proverbs 7
What Happens in This Chapter
A father tells his son to keep his words close and to treat wisdom like a sister. That will keep him away from the wife of another man. The father then tells what he saw from his window. A young man with no sense walked to her house at night, and the woman met him with kisses and smooth words. He follows her, and the chapter ends by calling her house the road down to death.
Plain reading written for kids. Short sentences, everyday words, one idea at a time.
My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
1My son, keep my words. Hold my commands safe inside you.
2Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
2Keep my commands, and you will live. Guard my teaching the way you guard your own eyes.
"The apple of thine eye" is an old way of saying the middle of the eye. It means the thing you protect the most.
3Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.
3Tie them on your fingers. Write them on your heart.
4Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:
4Say to wisdom, "You are my sister." Call understanding your close family.
5That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.
5Then they will keep you away from the wife of another man. They will keep you from her smooth, sweet words.
The KJV says "strange woman." It does not mean odd or unusual. It means a woman married to someone else.
6For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,
6One day I stood at the window of my house. I looked out through the wooden screen.
7And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
7I saw some young men who did not know much. One young man had no good sense at all.
8Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,
8He walked down the street near her corner. He took the road that led to her house.
9In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
9The sun was going down. Evening came, and then the night grew black and dark.
10And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
10A woman came out to meet him. She was dressed like a woman who sells her body, and her heart was full of tricks.
11(She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:
11She is loud, and she will not listen to anyone. She does not stay at home.
12Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)
12Sometimes she is outside. Sometimes she is in the streets. She waits at every corner.
13So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,
13She grabbed the young man and kissed him. She was not ashamed at all. She said to him,
14I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.
14"I brought God the gifts I promised him. Today I paid what I owed.
15Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
15So I came out to look for you. I looked hard, and now I have found you.
16I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.
16I have covered my bed with pretty cloth. It is fine linen from Egypt.
17I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
17I have made my bed smell sweet. I used the spices myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.
18Come, let us love each other all night long. Let us enjoy each other until morning.
19For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:
19My husband is not at home. He has gone far away on a trip.
20He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.
20He took a bag of money with him. He will not come home until the day he picked."
21With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
21She kept talking sweetly until he gave in. Her smooth words pulled him along.
22He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
22He went after her right away. He was like an ox walking to be killed. He was like a fool walking to be punished.
"The correction of the stocks" means a wooden frame that held a person's hands and feet while they were punished.
23Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
23He went until an arrow went through his liver. He was like a bird flying into a trap. He did not know it would cost him his life.
24Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.
24So listen to me now, my children. Pay attention to the words I say.
25Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
25Do not let your heart turn toward her ways. Do not wander onto her paths.
26For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
26She has knocked down many people. Many strong men have died because of her.
27Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
27Her house is the road to the place of the dead. It goes down to the rooms of death.
The KJV says "hell" here. The old word is Sheol, which simply means the place where dead people go.
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