Verse 1

And it came to pass in the fifth year of his vow, that the man stood as a watchman upon the walls of his own soul.

Verse 2

For he had set himself apart, and he walked not in the ways of the multitude, nor bowed unto the idols of flesh.

Verse 3

His bed was without stain, his heart girded as with iron, and the heat of the world touched him not.

Verse 4

But lo, a shadow entered the stillness of his thought, and in the eye of his mind there stood a woman, arrayed in beauty beyond the daughters of men.

Verse 5

She spake without her tongue, yet her presence poured forth a flood of images, and the flood was of abominations.

Verse 6

And he beheld her works, and saw they were not unto love, but unto the undoing of the soul.

Verse 7

Then he divided himself in twain: with one part he beheld her beauty, and with the other he discerned the poison thereof.

Verse 8

Her perfection was a snare, her touch a chain, her sweetness as the honey of the locust, bitter when it hath passed the tongue.

Verse 9

And he turned his face from her, and her power was broken; for she was as smoke before the wind and vanished from his sight.

Verse 10

Then was there a great silence, and it was as a witness unto him; for the might of a man is in knowing what pleasure would make of him were he to yield unto it.

Verse 11

So he held fast his vow, his heart established, his spirit as a fortress that is not moved.