6 As I stood at the window of my house looking out through the shutters, 7 Watching the mindless crowd stroll by, I spotted a young man without any sense 8 Arriving at the corner of the street where she lived, then turning up the path to her house. 9 It was dusk, the evening coming on, the darkness thickening into night. 10 Just then, a woman met him - she'd been lying in wait for him, dressed to seduce him. 11 Brazen and brash she was, restless and roaming, never at home, 12 Walking the streets, loitering in the mall, hanging out at every corner in town. 13 She threw her arms around him and kissed him, boldly took his arm and said, 14 "I've got all the makings for a feast - today I made my offerings, my vows are all paid, 15 So now I've come to find you, hoping to catch sight of your face - and here you are! 16 I've spread fresh, clean sheets on my bed, colorful imported linens. 17 My bed is aromatic with spices and exotic fragrances. 18 Come, let's make love all night, spend the night in ecstatic lovemaking! 19 My husband's not home; he's away on business, and he won't be back for a month." 20 21 Soon she has him eating out of her hand, bewitched by her honeyed speech. 22 Before you know it, he's trotting behind her, like a calf led to the butcher shop, Like a stag lured into ambush 23 and then shot with an arrow, Like a bird flying into a net not knowing that its flying life is over.
24 So, friends, listen to me, take these words of mine most seriously. 25 Don't fool around with a woman like that; don't even stroll through her neighborhood. 26 Countless victims come under her spell; she's the death of many a poor man. 27 She runs a halfway house to hell, fits you out with a shroud and a coffin.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Proverbs 7:6-27
Commentary on Proverbs 7:6-27
(Read Proverbs 7:6-27)
Here is an affecting example of the danger of youthful lusts. It is a history or a parable of the most instructive kind. Will any one dare to venture on temptations that lead to impurity, after Solomon has set before his eyes in so lively and plain a manner, the danger of even going near them? Then is he as the man who would dance on the edge of a lofty rock, when he has just seen another fall headlong from the same place. The misery of self-ruined sinners began in disregard to God's blessed commands. We ought daily to pray that we may be kept from running into temptation, else we invite the enemies of our souls to spread snares for us. Ever avoid the neighbourhood of vice. Beware of sins which are said to be pleasant sins. They are the more dangerous, because they most easily gain the heart, and close it against repentance. Do nothing till thou hast well considered the end of it. Were a man to live as long as Methuselah, and to spend all his days in the highest delights sin can offer, one hour of the anguish and tribulation that must follow, would far outweigh them.