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II He that loveth pureness | the words of truth: that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that fend unto thee?

of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.

12 The eyes of the Lord preferve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the tranfgreffor.

13 The flothful man faith, There is a lion without, I fhall be Dain in the ftreets.

14 The mouth of strange women is a deep pit; he that is abhorred of the Lord fhall fall therein.

15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child: but the rod of correction fhall drive it far from him.

16 He that oppreffeth the poor to increafe his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, fball furely come to want.

22 Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither opprefs the afflicted in the gate :

23 For the Lord will plead their caufe, and spoil the foul of thofe that spoiled.

them.

24 Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man thou fhalt not go:

25 Left thou learn his ways, and get a fnare to thy foul.

26 Be not thou one of them that ftrike Hands, or of them that are fureties for debts.

27 If thou haft nothing to pay, why fhould he take away thy bed from under thee?

28 Remove not the an

17 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wife, and apply thine heartcient land-mark which thy unto my knowledge. fathers have set.

18 For it is a pleasant 29 Seeft thou a man dilithing if thou keep them with- gent in his business? he shall in thee; they fhall withal bestand before kings; he shall fitted in thy lips. not ftand before mean men.

19 That thy truft may be in the Lord, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.

20 Have not I written to thee excellent things in counfels and knowledge,

21 That I might make thee know the certainty of

CHAP. XXIII.

W

HEN thou fittest to eat with a ruler, confider diligently what is before thee:

2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.

3 Be not derfious of his dainties for they are de: ceitful meat.

ver his foul from hell.

15 My fon, if thine heart be wife, my heart shall re

4 Labour not to be rich:joice, even mine. cease from thine own wif

dom.

5 Wilt thou fet thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themfelves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty

meats:

7 For as he thinketh in his heart, fo is he: Eat and drink, faith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

8 The morfel which thou haft eaten fhalt thou vomit up, and lofe thy fweet words. 9 Speak not in the ears of a fool for he will defpife the wisdom of thy words.

10 Remove not the old land-mark: and enter not into the fields of the fatherlefs: II For their Redeemer is mighty he fhall plead their

cause with thee.

12 Apply thine heart unto inftruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

13

16 Yea, my reins fhall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.

17 Let not thine heart envy finners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long :

18 For furely there is an end; and thine expectation fhall not be cut off.

19 Hear thou, my fon, and be wife, and guide thine heart in the way.

20 Be not amongst winebibbers; amongst fiotous eaters of flesh :

21 For the drunkard and the glutton fhall come to poverty: and drowfinefs fhall clothe a man with rags.

22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and defpife not thy mother when the is old.

23 Buy the truth, and fell it not; also wisdom, and inftruction, and understanding.

24 The father of the righteous fhall greatly reWith-hold not correc-joice: and he that begetteth tion from the child: for, if a wife child fhall have joy of thou beatest him with the him. rod, he shall not die :

14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and fhalt deli

25 Thy father and thy mother fhall be glad, and fhe that bare thee fhall rejoice. Cc3 26 My

26 My fon, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes ob

ferve my ways.

CHAP. XXIV.

27 For a whore is a deepBE not thou envious

against evil men, nei

ditch and a strange woman ther defire to be with them; is a narrow pit.

2 For their heart ftudieth deftruction, and their lips talk of mifchief.

28 She alfo lieth in wait as for a prey, and increafeth the tranfgreffors among men. 29 Who hath woe? who hath forrow? who hath contentions who hath bab-ed:

3 Through wifdom is an houfe builded; and by understanding it is establish

bling who hath wounds. 4 And by knowledge fhall without caufe? who hath the chambers be filled with redness of eyes?

30 They that tarry long at the wine, they that go to feek mixed wine.

31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

32 At the last it biteth like a ferpent, and ftingeth like an adder.

33 Thine eyes fhall behold ftrange women, and thine heart fhall utter perverfe things.

34 Yea, thou fhalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the fea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a maft.

35 They have ftricken me, fhalt thou fay, and I was not fick they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when fhall I awake? I will feek it yet again,

all precious and pleafant riches.

5 A wife man is strong: yea, a man of knowledge increafeth ftrength.

6 For by wife counsel thou fhalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellers there is fafety.

7 Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate.

8 He that devifeth to do evil fhall be called a mifchievous perfon.

9 The thought of foolishnefs is fin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.

10 If thou faint in the day of adverfity, thy ftrength is fmall.

II If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and thofe that are ready to be flain;

12 If thou fayeft, Behold,

We

we knew it not: doth not he that pondereth the heart confider it? and he that keepeth thy foul, doth not he know it? and fhall not he render to every man according to his works?

21 My fon, fear thou the Lord, and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change :

22 For their calamity shall and who rife fuddenly; knoweth the ruin of them

13 My fon, eat thou ho-both?

because it is good; and ney, the honey-comb, which is fweet to thy taste :

14 So fhall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy foul: when thou haft found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation fhall not be cut off.

15 Lay not wait, O wicked | man, against the dwelling of the righteous; fpoil not his refting-place :

16 For a juft man falleth feven times, and rifeth up again: but the wicked fhall fall into mischief.

17 Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he ftumbleth;

18 Left the Lord fee it, and it difplease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

19 Fret not thyself becaufe of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked:

20 For there fhall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked fhall be put out.

23 Thefe thing's also belong to the wife, It is not good to have refpect of perfons in judgment.

24 He that faith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous, him fhall the people curfe, nations fhall abhor him:

25 But to them that rebuke him fhall be delight, and a good bleffing fhall come upon them.

26 Every man fhall kifs his lips that giveth a right anfwer.

27 Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyfelf in the field; and afterwards build thine house.

28 Be not a witness against thy neighbour without caufe; and deceive not with thy lips.

29 Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: will render to the man according to his work.

I

30 I went by the field of the flothful; and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;

31 And lo, it was all CC 4 grown

grown over with thorns, and | great men :
nettles had covered the face
thereof, and the ftone wall
thereof was broken down.
32 Then I saw, and con-
fidered it well: I looked
upon it, and received inftruc-
tion.

33 Yet a little fleep, a little flumber, a little folding of the hands to fleep:

34 So fhall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed

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3 The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unfearchable.

4 Take away the drofs from the filver, and there fhall come forth a veffel for the finer :

5 Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne fhall be established in righteousness.

6 Put not forth thyfelf in the presence of the king, and ftand not in the place of

7. For better it is that it be faid unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldeft be put lower in the prefence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.

8 Go not forth hastily to strive, left thou know, not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to fhame.

9 Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a fecret to another;

10 Left he that heareth it put thee to shame, and thine infamy turn not away.

11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of filver.

12 As an ear-ring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, fo is a wife reprover upon an obedient ear.

13 As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful meffenger to them that fent him: for he refrefheth the foul of his maf ters.

14 Whoso boasteth himfelf of a falfe gift, is like clouds and wind without rain.

15 By long forbearing is a prince perfuaded, and a foft tongue breaketh the bone. 16 Haft thou found ho

ney?

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