And with all thy gain, gain understanding.

8 Exalt her, and she will promote thee;

She will bring thee to honor, when thou dost embrace her; 9 She will give to thy head a graceful wreath,

10

A splendid crown will she bestow upon thee.

Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings! So shall the years of thy life be many.

11 I will teach thee the way of wisdom,
I will lead thee in the right path.

12 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be confined;
And when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
13 Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go;
Keep her, for she is thy life.

14 Enter not into the path of the wicked,

And go not in the way of evil men;

15 Avoid it, pass not upon it,

Turn from it, and go away.

16 For they sleep not, unless they have done mischief; Yea, their sleep is taken away, unless they have caused some to fall.

17 For they eat the bread of wickedness,

And drink the wine of violence.

18 The path of the righteous is as the light of dawn,

Which grows ever brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.

19 The way of the wicked is as thick darkness;

They know not at what they stumble.

Incline thine ear to my sayings;

21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; Keep them within thy heart!

22 For they are life to those that find them,

And soundness to all their flesh.

23 More than any thing which thou watchest, watch thy

heart;

For from it goes forth life.

24 Put away from thee a deceitful mouth, And remove far from thee perverse lips. 25 Let thine eyes look straight forward,

And thine eyelids be directed before thee. 26 Give heed to the path of thy foot, And let all thy ways be straight. 27 Turn not to the right hand or to the left; Remove thy foot from evil.

VII.

Warning against unchastity. — CH. V.

1 My son, attend to my wisdom,
And bow thine ear to my understanding;
2 That thou mayst keep discretion,

And that thy lips may preserve knowledge!

3 Truly, the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;

4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to Death;

Her steps lay hold on the under-world.

6 She gives no heed to the way of life;
Her paths sink, when she thinks not of it.

7

Hear me now, therefore, O ye children, And depart not from the words of my mouth!

8 Remove thy way far from her,

And come not nigh the door of her house: 9 Lest thou give thy bloom to others,

And thy years to the cruel;

10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth,

And thine earnings remain in the house of the alien; 11 And lest thou mourn in thy latter end,

When thy flesh and thy body are consumed, 12 And say, "How have I hated instruction! And how hath my heart despised reproof! 13 I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to my instructers; 14 I have well-nigh fallen into every misery, In the midst of the congregation and the assembly."

15

Drink water out of thine own cistern, And running water out of thine own well: 16 So shall thy fountains overflow in the streets, In the wide streets, as streams of water; 17 They shall belong to thee alone, And not to strangers with thee;

18 And thy fountain shall be blessed,

Yea, thou shalt have joy in the wife of thy youth. 19 A lovely hind, a graceful mountain-goat, Her breasts shall satisfy thee at all times,

And thou shalt be always ravished with her love.

20 Why, then, my son, wilt thou be ravished with a wanton, And embrace the bosom of a stranger?

21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah, And he weighs well all his paths.

22 His own iniquities shall catch the wicked,

Yea, he shall be held fast by the cords of his own sins.

23 He shall die for want of instruction,

Yea, through the greatness of his folly he shall stagger [into the grave].

12

[CH. VI.

VIII.

Warning against suretiship, indolence, falsehood, and other vices.— CH. VI. 1–19.

1 My son, if thou hast become a surety for another,

If thou hast stricken hands for another,

2 If thou art ensnared by the words of thy mouth,

If thou art caught by the words of thy mouth,

3 Do this now, my son, and rescue thyself,

Since thou hast fallen into the hands of thy neighbour,Go, prostrate thyself, and be urgent with thy neighbour! 4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids; 5 Rescue thyself, as a gazelle from the hand,

And as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6

Go to the ant, O sluggard,

Consider her ways, and be wise!

7 She hath no governor,

Nor overseer, nor ruler;

8 Yet she prepares in the summer her food, She gathers in the harvest her meat.

9 How long wilt thou lie in bed, O sluggard ? When wilt thou arise from thy sleep?

10" A little sleep, ·

a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to rest ";

11 So shall poverty come upon thee, like a robber, Yea, want, as an armed man!

12

A worthless wretch is the unrighteous man, Who walks with a deceitful mouth;

13 Who winks with his eyes,

Speaks with his feet,

And teaches with his fingers.

14 Fraud is in his heart,

He devises mischief continually;

He scatters contentions.

15 Therefore shall calamity come upon him suddenly; In a moment shall he be destroyed, without remedy.

16

These six things doth Jehovah hate; Yea, seven are an abomination to him: 17 Lofty eyes, a false tongue,

And hands which shed innocent blood; 18 A heart that contrives wicked devices, Feet that are swift in running to mischief, 19 A false witness, that utters lies,

And him that sows discord among brethreu.

IX.

Exhortation of obedience to parents, and warning against unchastity. CH. VI. 20-VII.

20

KEEP, O my son, the commandment of thy father,

And forsake not the precepts of thy mother!

21 Bind them continually to thy heart,

Tie them around thy neck!

22 When thou goest, they shall guide thee;

When thou sleepest, they shall watch over thee;

And when thou awakest, they shall talk with thee. 23 For his commandment is a lamp, and her teaching a light; Yea, the rebukes of correction lead to life.

24 They shall guard thee from the evil woman,

From the smooth tongue of the unchaste woman.