UBF Daily Bread

LIKE AN OX GOING TO THE SLAUGHTER

Passage: Proverbs 7:1~27

Key verse: 2

Warning Against the Adulterous Woman

7 My son,^(A) keep my words
    and store up my commands within you.
²Keep my commands and you will live;^(B)
    guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
³Bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.^(C)
⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and to insight, “You are my relative.”
⁵They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words.^(D)

⁶At the window of my house
    I looked down through the lattice.
⁷I saw among the simple,
    I noticed among the young men,
    a youth who had no sense.^(E)
⁸He was going down the street near her corner,
    walking along in the direction of her house
⁹at twilight,^(F) as the day was fading,
    as the dark of night set in.

¹⁰Then out came a woman to meet him,
    dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
¹¹(She is unruly^(G) and defiant,
    her feet never stay at home;
¹²now in the street, now in the squares,
    at every corner she lurks.)^(H)
¹³She took hold of him^(I) and kissed him
    and with a brazen face she said:^(J)

¹⁴“Today I fulfilled my vows,
    and I have food from my fellowship offering^(K) at home.
¹⁵So I came out to meet you;
    I looked for you and have found you!
¹⁶I have covered my bed
    with colored linens from Egypt.
¹⁷I have perfumed my bed^(L)
    with myrrh,^(M) aloes and cinnamon.
¹⁸Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
    let’s enjoy ourselves with love!^(N)
¹⁹My husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey.
²⁰He took his purse filled with money
    and will not be home till full moon.”

²¹With persuasive words she led him astray;
    she seduced him with her smooth talk.^(O)
²²All at once he followed her
    like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer^[a] stepping into a noose^[b]^(P)
²³    till an arrow pierces^(Q) his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
    little knowing it will cost him his life.^(R)

²⁴Now then, my sons, listen^(S) to me;
    pay attention to what I say.
²⁵Do not let your heart turn to her ways
    or stray into her paths.^(T)
²⁶Many are the victims she has brought down;
    her slain are a mighty throng.
²⁷Her house is a highway to the grave,
    leading down to the chambers of death.^(U)

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Footnotes

Proverbs 7:22 Syriac (see also Septuagint); Hebrew fool
Proverbs 7:22 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.

1. The apple of your eye (1-5)

If I keep God's commands as the apple of my eye, and write them on the tablet of my heart, then God's word will keep me from the tempter's snare.

2. Like an ox to the slaughter (6-27)

The writer gives a vivid description of how a seductive woman tempts a man and leads him into a situation that will cost him his life. She looks for a simple young man who lacks judgment, and she brazenly approaches him and invites him to her home. She even appears to be a religious person. She assures him that her husband is away and invites him to come in and enjoy! He follows her like an ox led to the slaughter. A man with no word of God in his heart is easy prey. Satan tempts us at our vulnerable spots. When God's word is the apple of my eye, and it is stored in my heart, I can escape Satan's whisperings.

Prayer: Lord, help me to keep your word as the apple of my eye so that I may escape Satan's seductive voice.

One Word: God's word--the apple of my eye