Chapter 7

Warning Against the Adulterous Woman

1 My son, keep my words

and store up my commands within you.

2 Keep my commands and you will live;

guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.

3 Bind them on your fingers;

write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

and to insight, “You are my relative.”

5 They will keep you from the adulterous woman,

from the wayward woman with her seductive words.

6 At the window of my house

I looked down through the lattice.

7 I saw among the simple,

I noticed among the young men,

a youth who had no sense.

8 He was going down the street near her corner,

walking along in the direction of her house

9at twilight, as the day was fading,

as the dark of night set in.

10 Then out came a woman to meet him,

dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.

11 (She is unruly and defiant,

her feet never stay at home;

12 now in the street, now in the squares,

at every corner she lurks.)

13 She took hold of him and kissed him

and with a brazen face she said:

14 “Today I fulfilled my vows,

and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.

15 So I came out to meet you;

I looked for you and have found you!

16 I have covered my bed

with colored linens from Egypt.

17 I have perfumed my bed

with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

18 Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;

let’s enjoy ourselves with love!

19 My husband is not at home;

he has gone on a long journey.

20 He took his purse filled with money

and will not be home till full moon.”

21 With persuasive words she led him astray;

she seduced him with her smooth talk.

22 All at once he followed her

like an ox going to the slaughter,

like a deer stepping into a noose

23 till an arrow pierces his liver,

like a bird darting into a snare,

little knowing it will cost him his life.

24 Now then, my sons, listen to me;

pay attention to what I say.

25 Do not let your heart turn to her ways

or stray into her paths.

26 Many are the victims she has brought down;

her slain are a mighty throng.

27 Her house is a highway to the grave,

leading down to the chambers of death.

Chapter 8

Wisdom’s Call

1 Does not wisdom call out?

Does not understanding raise her voice?

2 At the highest point along the way,

where the paths meet, she takes her stand;

3 beside the gate leading into the city,

at the entrance, she cries aloud:

4 “To you, O people, I call out;

I raise my voice to all mankind.

5 You who are simple, gain prudence;

you who are foolish, set your hearts on it.

6 Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say;

I open my lips to speak what is right.

7 My mouth speaks what is true,

for my lips detest wickedness.

8 All the words of my mouth are just;

none of them is crooked or perverse.

9 To the discerning all of them are right;

they are upright to those who have found knowledge.

10 Choose my instruction instead of silver,

knowledge rather than choice gold,

11 for wisdom is more precious than rubies,

and nothing you desire can compare with her.

12 “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence;

I possess knowledge and discretion.

13 To fear the Lord is to hate evil;

I hate pride and arrogance,

evil behavior and perverse speech.

14 Counsel and sound judgment are mine;

I have insight, I have power.

15 By me kings reign

and rulers issue decrees that are just;

16 by me princes govern,

and nobles—all who rule on earth.

17 I love those who love me,

and those who seek me find me.

18 With me are riches and honor,

enduring wealth and prosperity.

19 My fruit is better than fine gold;

what I yield surpasses choice silver.

20 I walk in the way of righteousness,

along the paths of justice,

21 bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me

and making their treasuries full.

2 2“The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works,

before his deeds of old;

23 I was formed long ages ago,

at the very beginning, when the world came to be.

24 When there were no watery depths, I was given birth,

when there were no springs overflowing with water;

25 before the mountains were settled in place,

before the hills, I was given birth,

26 before he made the world or its fields

or any of the dust of the earth.

27 I was there when he set the heavens in place,

when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,

28 when he established the clouds above

and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,

29 when he gave the sea its boundary

so the waters would not overstep his command,

and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.

30 Then I was constantly at his side.

I was filled with delight day after day,

rejoicing always in his presence,

31 rejoicing in his whole world

and delighting in mankind.

32 “Now then, my children, listen to me;

blessed are those who keep my ways.

33 Listen to my instruction and be wise;

do not disregard it.

34 Blessed are those who listen to me,

watching daily at my doors,

waiting at my doorway.

35 For those who find me find life

and receive favor from the Lord.

36 But those who fail to find me harm themselves;

all who hate me love death.”

Chapter 9

Invitations of Wisdom and Folly

1 Wisdom has built her house;

she has set up its seven pillars.

2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;

she has also set her table.

3 She has sent out her servants, and she calls

from the highest point of the city,

4 “Let all who are simple come to my house!”

To those who have no sense she says,

5 “Come, eat my food

and drink the wine I have mixed.

6 Leave your simple ways and you will live;

walk in the way of insight.”

7 Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults;

whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.

8 Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you;

rebuke the wise and they will love you.

9 Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still;

teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,

and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

11 For through wisdom your days will be many,

and years will be added to your life.

12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;

if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.

13 Folly is an unruly woman;

she is simple and knows nothing.

14 She sits at the door of her house,

on a seat at the highest point of the city,

15 calling out to those who pass by,

who go straight on their way,

16 “Let all who are simple come to my house!”

To those who have no sense she says,

17 “Stolen water is sweet;

food eaten in secret is delicious!”

18 But little do they know that the dead are there,

that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead.

Chapter 9

Paul’s Anguish Over Israel

1 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

God’s Sovereign Choice

6 It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. 9 For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”

10 Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses,

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,

and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ” 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?

22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

25 As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;

and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”

26 and,

“In the very place where it was said to them,

‘You are not my people,’

there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ ”

27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,

only the remnant will be saved.

28 For the Lord will carry out

his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”

29 It is just as Isaiah said previously:

“Unless the Lord Almighty

had left us descendants,

we would have become like Sodom,

we would have been like Gomorrah.”

Israel’s Unbelief

30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.

33 As it is written:

“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble

and a rock that makes them fall,

and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”