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January 15, 1995
Most people view themselves as basically good, and yet many still lie, cheat, steal, act selfishly, and commit other acts of evil. Why is this so? From Proverbs 7, Alistair Begg draws on the godly wisdom of Solomon to explain this seeming paradox. God’s wisdom is clear: if we neglect Scripture, fail to guard ourselves, and deny the reality and danger of sin, we too may become “doers of evil.”
1hMy son, keep my words
and htreasure up my commandments with you;
2ikeep my commandments and live;
keep my teaching as jthe apple of your eye;
3kbind them on your fingers;
kwrite them on the tablet of your heart.
4Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call insight your intimate friend,
5to keep you from lthe forbidden1 woman,
from lthe adulteress2 with her smooth words.
6For at mthe window of my house
I have looked out through my lattice,
7and I have seen among nthe simple,
I have perceived among the youths,
a young man olacking sense,
8passing along the street pnear her corner,
taking the road to her house
9in qthe twilight, in the evening,
at rthe time of night and darkness.
10And behold, the woman meets him,
sdressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.3
vher feet do not stay at home;
12now in the street, now in the market,
and wat every corner she xlies in wait.
13She seizes him and kisses him,
and with ybold face she says to him,
14“I had to zoffer sacrifices,4
and today I have apaid my vows;
15so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
16I have spread my couch with bcoverings,
colored linens from cEgyptian linen;
17I have perfumed my bed with dmyrrh,
aloes, and ecinnamon.
18Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.
19For fmy husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey;
20he took a bag of money with him;
at full moon he will come home.”
21With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with gher smooth talk she compels him.
22All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast5
23till an arrow pierces its liver;
as ha bird rushes into a snare;
he does not know that it will cost him his life.
24And inow, O sons, listen to me,
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
25Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her paths,
26for many a victim has she laid low,
and all her slain are ja mighty throng.
27Her house is kthe way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death.
Copyright © 2024, Alistair Begg. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.
