¹⁶ It will rescue you from a forbidden woman,^(A)
from a stranger^[a] with her flattering talk,^(B)
17 who abandons the companion of her youth^(C)
and forgets the covenant of her God;
¹⁸ for her house sinks down to death
and her ways to the land of the departed spirits.^(D)
19 None return who go to her;
none reach the paths of life.^(E)

⁵ She will keep you from a forbidden woman,
a stranger with her flattering talk.^(A)

²¹ She seduces him with her persistent pleading;
she lures with her flattering^[a] talk.

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.