Proverbs 7:7–24

³²But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

²²How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

²²For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

¹⁶And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?

³²For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

⁴To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

¹³In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding.

⁵O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.

¹⁶Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

⁴Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

¹³⁰The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

¹⁸For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

¹⁹For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

¹¹He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.

¹⁵The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.

¹⁸The simple inherit folly: but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

²Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.

²⁵Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge.

³A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

³⁰I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;

¹²A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.

⁷The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

¹⁸Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

²¶ And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

³And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

²²Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

²³And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

¹THEN went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.

¹⁴¶ Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.

¹⁵Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.

⁸Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

¹²Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)

¹³They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.

¹⁴The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.

¹⁵The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face.

¹²The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

¹³Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

¹⁴But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

¹¹And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

¹¹And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.

⁶And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

⁹In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;

²For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

³But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

¹⁶¶ Moreover the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:

¹⁷Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts.

¹⁸In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,

¹⁹The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,

²⁰The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,

²¹The rings, and nose jewels,

²²The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,

²³The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.

²⁴And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

³⁰¶ And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.

³⁰And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

²²And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?

¹⁴And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.

¹⁵When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.

¹⁶Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.

¹NOW the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

³So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

⁴And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

⁵And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

¹³¶ A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.

⁵To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

¹³And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.

¹⁴I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.

¹⁰¶ Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

¹¹The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

¹²She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

¹³She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

¹⁴She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

¹⁵She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

¹⁶She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

¹⁷She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

¹⁸She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

¹⁹She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.

²⁰She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

²¹She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

²²She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.

²³Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

²⁴She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

²⁵Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

²⁶She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

²⁷She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

²⁸Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

²⁹Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.

³⁰Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

³¹Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

⁹¶ And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.

²⁴It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house.

¹⁴He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.

¹⁵A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.

²⁸She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.

¹⁴For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,

³For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

²⁴That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street.

²⁵Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.

³¹In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;

²⁰¶ For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

³³Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.

³⁶Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.

²Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.

²³And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

¹²And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.

⁶¶ And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

⁷And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;

⁸And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.

³³They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom.

⁴For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God.

⁶¶ And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

⁷But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.

⁸Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.

⁹As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

⁷¶ And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.

⁷¶ For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

¹AND Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.

¹⁶Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.

²⁹A wicked man hardeneth his face: but as for the upright, he directeth his way.

²⁰Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

²⁷The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?

¹¹And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the Lord.

⁶And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:

⁷And there ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.

²⁸¶ Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.

⁸The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

¹BETTER is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.

⁹And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:

¹⁰And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.

⁷¶ And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the Lord, in Hebron.

⁸For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the Lord shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.

⁹And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to Hebron.

¹⁵And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning.

¹⁶But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice: and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten:

⁹Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded.

⁷Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.

²⁸¶ And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price.

²²She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.

²²Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

⁷Behold his bed, which is Solomon’s; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel.

⁸They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.

⁹King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.

¹⁰He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.

¹⁶Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.

⁸All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.

⁷Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.

⁸Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.

⁹And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.

²³Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,

⁶¶ Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?

¹³Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,

¹⁴Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:

⁴⁵But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;

⁴⁶The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

¹¹And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,

³⁹And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.

³⁴For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.

³⁵Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:

³⁶Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.

⁴³But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

⁴⁸But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;

⁴Behold, I build an house to the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.

³¶ For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

⁵That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

⁸¶ And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.

²⁹But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.

²They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

¹⁴For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

¹⁵¶ And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.

¹⁶And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;

¹⁷That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a rasor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

²⁴To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

²³But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed.

¹⁵And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

²³And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

²⁷Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.

¹³Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.

²⁴Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

²Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord.

¹²For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

¹⁸But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

⁸And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.

⁹And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.

¹⁷Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

⁷Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

¹HEAR, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.

¹MY little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

¹⁹My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

³²Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.

³³Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.

¹⁴I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.

¹⁵For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.