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Proverbs 9:13-18
New Catholic Bible
Proverbs 9:13-18
New Catholic Bible
Folly Sits at the Door of Her House[a]
13 The woman Folly[b] acts impulsively;
she is undisciplined and lacking in knowledge.
14 She sits at the door of her house,
upon a seat commanding the city,
15 calling out to the passers-by
who are hurrying on their straight way,
16 “You who are simple, turn in here.”
To the fool she says,
17 “Stolen water is sweet,
and bread eaten in secret tastes good.”
18 But little does he know that the dead are there
and that her guests are headed for the netherworld.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 9:13 In contrast with Wisdom, who is God’s hostess, here is a picture full of irony. Folly holds her banquet too, but she can offer only stolen water, bread eaten in secret, and, in the end, death, the sojourn in the land of oblivion and hopelessness (i.e., the netherworld). This comparison of Wisdom and Folly, this contrast of the two banquets, recalls the opposition of the two ways: here we are called to make our choice.
- Proverbs 9:13 The description of Folly in this verse links her to the adulteress of Prov 2:16; 7:10ff.
