¹⁸ for her house sinks down to death
and her ways to the land of the departed spirits.^(A)
19 None return who go to her;
none reach the paths of life.^(B)

²¹ She seduces him with her persistent pleading;
she lures with her flattering^[a] talk.
²² He follows her impulsively
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer bounding toward a trap^[b]
23 until an arrow pierces its^[c] liver,^(A)
like a bird darting into a snare^(B)—
he doesn’t know it will cost him his life.

²⁷ Her house is the road to Sheol,
descending to the chambers of death.^(A)

²⁷ For a prostitute is a deep pit,^(A)
and a stranger is a narrow well;
²⁸ indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber^(B)
and increases those among men who are unfaithful.