**The Wisdom of Solomon: A Tale of Temptation and Redemption**
In the golden days of his youth, when King Solomon’s wisdom shone like the noonday sun over Israel, he gathered his sons and the young men of the court in the great hall of his palace. The marble floors gleamed under the light of a hundred oil lamps, and the scent of cedarwood and myrrh filled the air. The young men sat at his feet, eager to drink from the well of his understanding.
With a voice both tender and firm, Solomon began to speak.
*”My sons, pay close attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding, that you may preserve discretion and your lips may keep knowledge.”*
He leaned forward, his eyes alight with the urgency of his message.
*”For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. But in the end, she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.”*
### **The Allure of the Strange Woman**
Solomon painted a vivid picture with his words, describing a scene familiar to many young men in Jerusalem. He spoke of a woman—beautiful, cunning—who waited at the corners of the streets, near the house of the harlot. Her garments were fine linen and purple, her wrists adorned with golden bangles that chimed with every step. Her laughter was like a melody, and her words were sweet as the honeycomb.
*”She flatters with her tongue,”* Solomon warned. *”She says to the young man, ‘Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.'”*
The young men listened, some shifting uncomfortably, for they had seen such women in the marketplace, had felt the pull of their glances.
### **The Bitter End of Folly**
But Solomon’s voice grew grave. *”Yet he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.”*
He described the ruin that awaited those who followed her. The young man, once strong and full of promise, would find his honor given to others, his years claimed by the cruel. His wealth would waste away, his labors enriching another man’s house. Too late, he would groan in anguish, realizing his error when his flesh and body were consumed.
*”How I have hated instruction!”* Solomon lamented on behalf of the foolish. *”My heart despised correction! I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the assembly!”*
### **The Call to Faithfulness**
Then, with a father’s tenderness, Solomon turned to the remedy. *”Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.”*
He spoke of the joy of a man’s own wife, of love that was pure and blessed. *”Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth. Let her be as the loving deer and pleasant doe; let her breasts satisfy you at all times, and always be enraptured with her love.”*
The young men bowed their heads, some in conviction, others in gratitude. Solomon’s words were not mere warnings—they were life.
### **The Final Warning**
Before dismissing them, the king fixed his gaze upon his listeners, his voice resolute. *”For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He ponders all his paths. The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is caught in the cords of his sin. He shall die for lack of instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.”*
As the assembly dispersed into the cool Jerusalem night, the words lingered like the fragrance of incense. Some would heed them, finding life and peace. Others would learn too late the truth of the king’s wisdom.
And so, the voice of Solomon echoed through the ages—a call to flee temptation, to cherish purity, and to walk in the fear of the Lord. For in His wisdom alone is true life found.
