150. The evil inclination, what is it like? When it comes to connect with a person, it is as iron before it is brought into the fire. After it has been heated, it is returned entirely like fire.
151. When the evil inclination comes to connect with a person, it is like a person who approaches the door and sees that there is one in the house to stop it. It enters the house and becomes a guest there, and sees that there is no one to stop it from leaving there to go on its way. Once it enters the house and there is no one to stop it, it takes charge over the house and becomes the landlord until the entire house is at its service.
152. We learn this from the incident with David. It is written, “And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, and he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” A traveler means one who approaches the door and does not want be detained there, but to go on his way. So is the evil inclination at first, where as one who approaches a house, it approaches the person and awakens him to sin a little. But this is only by coincidence.
It sees that there is no one to stop it, it is written, “to prepare for the guest who had come to him.” Here he becomes a guest, a guest at the house, who awakens him to sin more, for a day or two, like that guest who is kept in the house for a day or two.
When he sees that there is no one to stop him, it is written, “and prepared it for the man who had come to him,” since he became the landlord, as it is written, “The man, the lord of the land.” So is the evil inclination, it becomes a man, the landlord of the person, since the man became tied to its work, and the evil inclination does with him as it pleases.
153. For this reason, one must always put words of Torah on himself, so that that evil inclination is broken by them, since there is no enemy to the evil inclination like words of Torah. This is why it is written, “And these words shall be on your heart.” “On your heart,” on both your desires, since the good inclination is crowned with them, and the evil inclination is subdued by them.
Why does the good inclination need words of Torah? The good inclination is crowned by them, and when the evil inclination sees that the person does not repent and does not want to engage in Torah, it rises up and speaks of his faults, as it is written, “Fools get disgrace.”