Part 6
Give not water an outlet; neither to a wicked woman freedom of speech.
If she go not as thou wouldest have her, cut her off from thy flesh.
* * * * *
=26= Happy is the husband of a good wife; and the number of his days shall be twofold.
A brave woman rejoiceth her husband; and he shall fulfil his years in peace.
A good wife is a good portion: she shall be given in the portion of such as fear the Lord.
Whether a man be rich or poor, a good heart maketh at all times a cheerful countenance.
* * * * *
Of three things my heart was afraid; and concerning the fourth kind I made supplication: the slander of a city, and the assembly of a multitude, and a false accusation: all these are more grievous than death.
A grief of heart and sorrow is a woman that is jealous of another woman, and the scourge of a tongue communicating to all.
A wicked woman is as a yoke of oxen shaken to and fro: he that taketh hold of her is as one that graspeth a scorpion.
A drunken woman causeth great wrath; and she will not cover her own shame.
The whoredom of a woman is in the lifting up of her eyes; and it shall be known by her eyelids.
Keep strict watch on a headstrong daughter, lest she find liberty for herself, and use it.
Look well after an impudent eye; and marvel not if it trespass against thee.
She will open her mouth, as a thirsty traveller, and drink of every water that is near: at every post will she sit down, and open her quiver against any arrow.
* * * * *
The grace of a wife will delight her husband; and her knowledge will fatten his bones.
A silent woman is a gift of the Lord; and there is nothing so much worth as a well-instructed soul.
A shamefast woman is grace upon grace; and there is no price worthy of a continent soul.
As the sun when it ariseth in the highest places of the Lord, so is the beauty of a good wife in the ordering of a man’s house.
As the lamp that shineth upon the holy candlestick, so is the beauty of the face in ripe age.
As the golden pillars are upon a base of silver, so are beautiful feet with the breasts of one that is stedfast.
* * * * *
For two things my heart is grieved; and for the third anger cometh upon me: a man of war that suffereth for poverty; and men of understanding that are counted as refuse: one that turneth back from righteousness to sin; the Lord shall prepare him for the sword.
A merchant shall hardly keep himself from wrong doing; and a huckster shall not be acquitted of sin.
=27= Many have sinned for a thing indifferent; and he that seeketh to multiply gain will turn his eye away.
A nail will stick fast between the joinings of stones; and sin will thrust itself in between buying and selling.
Unless a man hold on diligently in the fear of the Lord, his house shall soon be overthrown.
* * * * *
In the shaking of a sieve, the refuse remaineth; so the filth of man in his reasoning.
The furnace will prove the potter’s vessels; and the trial of a man is in his reasoning.
The fruit of a tree declareth the husbandry thereof; so is the utterance of the thought of the heart of a man.
Praise no man before thou hearest him reason; for this is the trial of men.
* * * * *
If thou followest righteousness, thou shalt obtain her, and put her on, as a long robe of glory.
Birds will resort unto their like; and truth will return unto them that practise her.
The lion lieth in wait for prey; so doth sin for them that work iniquity.
* * * * *
The discourse of a godly man is always wisdom: but the foolish man changeth as the moon.
Among men void of understanding observe the opportunity; but stay continually among the thoughtful.
The discourse of fools is an offence; and their laughter is in the wantonness of sin.
The talk of a man of many oaths will make the hair stand upright; and their strife maketh one stop his ears.
The strife of the proud is a shedding of blood; and their reviling of each other is a grievous thing to hear.
* * * * *
He that revealeth secrets destroyeth credit, and shall not find a friend to his mind.
Love a friend, and keep faith with him; but if thou reveal his secrets, thou shalt not pursue after him;
For as a man hath destroyed his enemy, so hast thou destroyed the friendship of thy neighbour.
And as a bird which thou hast loosed out of thy hand, so hast thou let thy neighbour go, and thou wilt not catch him again:
Pursue him not, for he is gone far away, and hath escaped as a gazelle out of the snare.
For a wound may be bound up, and after reviling there may be a reconcilement; but he that revealeth secrets hath lost hope.
* * * * *
One that winketh with the eye contriveth evil things; and no man will remove him from it.
When thou art present, he will speak sweetly, and will admire thy words; but afterward he will writhe his mouth, and set a trap for thee in thy words.
I have hated many things, but nothing like him; and the Lord will hate him.
One that casteth a stone on high casteth it on his own head; and a deceitful stroke will open wounds.
He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and he that setteth a snare shall be taken therein.
He that doeth evil things, they shall roll upon him, and he shall not know whence they have come to him.
Mockery and reproach are from the haughty; and vengeance, as a lion, shall lie in wait for him.
They that rejoice at the fall of the godly shall be taken in a snare; and anguish shall consume them before they die.
* * * * *
Wrath and anger, these also are abominations; and a sinful man shall possess them.
=28= He that taketh vengeance shall find vengeance from the Lord; and he will surely make firm his sins.
Forgive thy neighbour the hurt that he hath done thee; and then thy sins shall be pardoned when thou prayest.
Man cherisheth anger against man; and doth he seek healing from the Lord?
Upon a man like himself he hath no mercy; and doth he make supplication for his own sins?
He being himself flesh nourisheth wrath: who shall make atonement for his sins?
Remember thy last end, and cease from enmity: remember corruption and death, and abide in the commandments.
Remember the commandments, and be not wroth with thy neighbour; and remember the covenant of the Highest, and wink at ignorance.
Abstain from strife, and thou shalt diminish thy sins; for a passionate man will kindle strife;
And a man that is a sinner will trouble friends, and will make debate among them that be at peace.
As is the fuel of the fire, so will it burn; and as the stoutness of the strife is, so will it burn: as is the strength of the man, so will be his wrath; and as is his wealth, so will he exalt his anger.
A contention begun in haste kindleth a fire; and a hasty fighting sheddeth blood.
If thou blow a spark, it shall burn; and if thou spit upon it, it shall be quenched: and both these shall come out of thy mouth.
* * * * *
Curse the whisperer and double-tongued: for he hath destroyed many that were at peace.
A third person’s tongue hath shaken many, and dispersed them from nation to nation; and it hath pulled down strong cities, and overthrown the houses of great men.
A third person’s tongue hath cast out brave women, and deprived them of their labours.
He that hearkeneth unto it shall not find rest, nor shall he dwell quietly.
The stroke of a whip maketh a mark in the flesh; but the stroke of a tongue will break bones.
Many have fallen by the edge of the sword: yet not so many as they that have fallen because of the tongue.
Happy is he that is sheltered from it, that hath not passed through the wrath thereof; that hath not drawn its yoke, and hath not been bound with its bands.
For the yoke thereof is a yoke of iron, and the bands thereof are bands of brass.
The death thereof is an evil death; and Hades were better than it.
It shall not have rule over godly men; and they shall not be burned in its flame.
They that forsake the Lord shall fall into it; and it shall burn among them, and shall not be quenched; it shall be sent forth upon them as a lion; and as a leopard it shall destroy them.
Look that thou hedge thy possession about with thorns; bind up thy silver and thy gold;
And make a balance and a weight for thy words; and make a door and a bar for thy mouth.
Take heed lest thou slip therein; lest thou fall before one that lieth in wait.
* * * * *
=29= He that sheweth mercy will lend unto his neighbour; and he that strengtheneth him with his hand keepeth the commandments.
Lend to thy neighbour in time of his need; and pay thou thy neighbour again in due season.
Confirm thy word, and keep faith with him; and at all seasons thou shalt find what thou needest.
Many have reckoned a loan as a windfall, and have given trouble to those that helped them.
Till he hath received, he will kiss a man’s hands; and for his neighbour’s money he will speak submissly: and when payment is due, he will prolong the time, and return words of heaviness, and complain of the times.
If he prevail, he shall hardly receive the half; and he will count it as a windfall: if not, he hath deprived him of his money, and he hath gotten him for an enemy without cause: he will pay him with cursings and railings; and for honour he will pay him disgrace.
Many on account of men’s ill-dealing have turned away; they have feared to be defrauded for nought.
Howbeit with a man in poor estate be longsuffering; and let him not wait for thine alms.
Help a poor man for the commandment’s sake; and according to his need send him not empty away.
Lose thy money for a brother and a friend; and let it not rust under the stone to be lost.
Bestow thy treasure according to the commandments of the Most High; and it shall profit thee more than gold.
Shut up alms in thy store-chambers; and it shall deliver thee out of all affliction:
It shall fight for thee against thine enemy better than a mighty shield and a ponderous spear.
* * * * *
A good man will be surety for his neighbour; and he that hath lost shame will fail him.
Forget not the good offices of thy surety; for he hath given his life for thee.
A sinner will overthrow the good estate of his surety;
And he that is of an unthankful mind will fail him that delivered him.
Suretiship hath undone many that were prospering, and shaken them as a wave of the sea: mighty men hath it driven from their homes; and they wandered among strange nations.
A sinner that falleth into suretiship, and undertaketh contracts for work, shall fall into lawsuits.
Help thy neighbour according to thy power, and take heed to thyself that thou fall not to the same.
* * * * *
The chief thing for life is water, and bread, and a garment, and a house to cover shame.
Better is the life of a poor man under a shelter of logs, than sumptuous fare in another man’s house.
With little or with much, be well satisfied.
It is a miserable life to go from house to house: and where thou art a sojourner, thou shalt not dare to open thy mouth.
Thou shalt entertain, and give to drink, and have no thanks: and besides this thou shalt hear bitter words.
Come hither, thou sojourner, furnish a table, and if thou hast aught in thy hand, feed me with it.
Go forth, thou sojourner, from the face of honour; my brother is come to be my guest; I have need of my house.
These things are grievous to a man of understanding; the upbraiding of house-room, and the reproaching of the money-lender.
* * * * *
=30= He that loveth his son will continue to lay stripes upon him, that he may have joy of him in the end.
He that chastiseth his son shall have profit of him, and shall glory of him among his acquaintance.
He that teacheth his son shall provoke his enemy to jealousy; and before friends he shall rejoice of him.
His father dieth, and is as though he had not died; for he hath left one behind him like himself.
In his life, he saw and rejoiced in him; and when he died, he sorrowed not:
He left behind him an avenger against his enemies, and one to requite kindness to his friends.
He that maketh too much of his son shall bind up his wounds; and his heart will be troubled at every cry.
An unbroken horse becometh stubborn; and a son left at large becometh headstrong.
Cocker thy child, and he shall make thee afraid: play with him, and he will grieve thee.
Laugh not with him, lest thou have sorrow with him; and thou shalt gnash thy teeth in the end.
Give him no liberty in his youth, and wink not at his follies.
Bow down his neck in his youth, and beat him on the sides while he is a child, lest he wax stubborn, and be disobedient unto thee; and there shall be sorrow to thy soul.
Chastise thy son, and take pains with him, lest his shameless behaviour be an offence unto thee.
* * * * *
Better is a poor man, being sound and strong of constitution, than a rich man that is plagued in his body.
Health and a good constitution are better than all gold; and a strong body than wealth without measure.
There is no riches better than health of body; and there is no gladness above the joy of the heart.
Death is better than a bitter life, and eternal rest than a continual sickness.
Good things poured out upon a mouth that is closed are as messes of meat laid upon a grave.
What doth an offering profit an idol? for neither shall it eat nor smell: so is he that is afflicted of the Lord,
Seeing with his eyes and groaning.
* * * * *
Give not over thy soul to sorrow; and afflict not thyself in thine own counsel.
Gladness of heart is the life of a man; and the joyfulness of a man is length of days.
Love thine own soul, and comfort thy heart: and remove sorrow far from thee; for sorrow hath destroyed many, and there is no profit therein.
Envy and wrath shorten a man’s days; and care bringeth old age before the time.
A cheerful and good heart will have a care of his meat and diet.
=31= Wakefulness that cometh of riches consumeth the flesh, and the anxiety thereof putteth away sleep.
Wakeful anxiety will crave slumber; and in sore disease sleep will be broken.
* * * * *
A rich man toileth in gathering money together; and when he resteth, he is filled with his good things.
A poor man toileth in lack of substance; and when he resteth, he becometh needy.
He that loveth gold shall not be justified; and he that followeth destruction shall himself have his fill of it.
Many have been given over to ruin for the sake of gold; and their perdition meeteth them face to face.
It is a stumblingblock unto them that sacrifice unto it; and every fool shall be taken therewith.
Blessed is the rich that is found without blemish, and that goeth not after gold.
Who is he? and we will call him blessed: for wonderful things hath he done among his people.
Who hath been tried thereby, and found perfect? Then let him glory. Who hath had the power to transgress, and hath not transgressed? And to do evil, and hath not done it?
His goods shall be made sure, and the congregation shall declare his alms.
Sittest thou at a great table? be not greedy upon it, and say not, Many are the things upon it.
Remember that an evil eye is a wicked thing: what hath been created more evil than an eye? therefore it sheddeth tears from every face.
Stretch not thine hand whithersoever it looketh, and trust not thyself with it into the dish.
Consider thy neighbour’s liking by thine own; and be discreet in every point.
Eat, as becometh a man, those things which are set before thee; and eat not greedily, lest thou be hated.
Be first to leave off for manners’ sake; and be not insatiable, less thou offend.
And if thou sittest among many, reach not out thy hand before them.
How sufficient to a well-mannered man is a very little, and he doth not breathe hard upon his bed.
Healthy sleep cometh of moderate eating; he riseth early, and his wits are with him; the pain of wakefulness, and colic, and griping, are with an insatiable man.
And if thou hast been forced to eat, rise up in the midst thereof, and thou shalt have rest.
Hear me, my son, and despise me not, and at the last thou shall find my words true: in all thy works be quick, and no disease shall come unto thee.
* * * * *
Him that is liberal of his meat the lips shall bless; and the testimony of his excellence shall be believed.
Him that is a niggard of his meat the city shall murmur at; and the testimony of his niggardness shall be sure.
* * * * *
Shew not thyself valiant in wine; for wine hath destroyed many.
The furnace proveth the temper of steel by dipping; so doth wine prove hearts in the quarrelling of the proud.
Wine is as good as life to men, if thou drink it in its measure: what life is there to a man that is without wine? and it hath been created to make men glad.
Wine drunk in season and to satisfy is joy of heart, and gladness of soul:
Wine drunk largely is bitterness of soul, with provocation and conflict.
Drunkenness increaseth the rage of a fool unto his hurt; it diminisheth strength, and addeth wounds.
* * * * *
Rebuke not thy neighbour at a banquet of wine, neither set him at nought in his mirth: speak not unto him a word of reproach, and press not upon him by asking back a debt.
=32= Have they made thee ruler of a feast? be not lifted up, be thou among them as one of them; take thought for them, and so sit down.
And when thou hast done all thy office, take thy place, that thou mayest be gladdened on their account, and receive a crown for thy well ordering.
* * * * *
Speak, thou that art the elder, for it becometh thee, but with sound knowledge; and hinder not music.
Pour not out talk where there is a performance of music, and display not thy wisdom out of season.
As a signet of carbuncle in a setting of gold, so is a concert of music in a banquet of wine.
As a signet of emerald in a work of gold, so is a strain of music with pleasant wine.
* * * * *
Speak, young man, if there be need of thee; yet scarcely if thou be twice asked.
Sum up thy speech, many things in few words; be as one that knoweth and yet holdeth his tongue.
If thou be among great men, behave not as their equal; and when another is speaking, make not much babbling.
Before thunder speedeth lightning; and before a shamefast man favour shall go forth.
Rise up betimes, and not be the last; get thee home quickly and loiter not:
There take thy pastime, and do what is in thy heart; and sin not by proud speech;
And for these things bless him that made thee, and giveth thee to drink freely of his good things.
He that feareth the Lord will receive his discipline; and they that seek him early shall find favour.
He that seeketh the law shall be filled therewith: but the hypocrite shall stumble thereat.
They that fear the Lord shall find judgement, and shall kindle righteous acts as a light.
A sinful man shunneth reproof, and will find a judgement according to his will.
* * * * *
A man of counsel will not neglect a thought; a strange and proud man will not crouch in fear, even after he hath done a thing by himself without counsel.
Do nothing without counsel; and when thou hast once done, repent not.
Go not in a way of conflict; and stumble not in stony places.
Be not confident in a smooth way.
And beware of thine own children.
In every work trust thine own soul; for this is the keeping of the commandments.
* * * * *
He that believeth the law giveth heed to the commandment; and he that trusteth in the Lord shall suffer no loss.
=33= There shall no evil happen unto him that feareth the Lord; but in temptation once and again will he deliver him.
A wise man will not hate the law; but he that is a hypocrite therein is as a ship in a storm.
A man of understanding will put his trust in the law; and the law is faithful unto him, as when one asketh at the oracle.
Prepare thy speech, and so shalt thou be heard; bind up instruction, and make thine answer.
The heart of a fool is as a cartwheel; and his thoughts like a rolling axle-tree.
A stallion horse is as a mocking friend; he neigheth under every one that sitteth upon him.
* * * * *
Why doth one day excel another, when all the light of every day in the year is of the sun?
By the knowledge of the Lord they were distinguished; and he varied seasons and feasts:
Some of them he exalted and hallowed, and some of them hath he made ordinary days.
And all men are from the ground, and Adam was created of earth.
In the abundance of his knowledge the Lord distinguished them, and made their ways various:
Some of them he blessed and exalted, and some of them he hallowed and brought nigh to himself: some of them he cursed and brought low, and overthrew them from their place.
As the clay of the potter in his hand, all his ways are according to his good pleasure; so men are in the hand of him that made them, to render unto them according to his judgement.