them all. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. From the same. My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: that thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall taik with thee. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: to keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. Lust not after her beauty in thine heart: neither let her take thee with her eyelids. Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead: none that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. Hear me now therefore, ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; and thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, and say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! From the same. House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the Lord. Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord. It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman. A continual dropping on a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike. As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion. Ecclesiasticus. Blessed is the man that hath a virtuous wife, for the number of his days shall be double. A virtuous woman rejoiceth her husband, and he shall fulfil the years of his life in peace. A silent and loving woman is a gift of the Lord; and there is nothing so much worth as a mind well instructed. A shamefaced and faithful woman is a double grace, and her continent mind cannot be valued. As the sun when it ariseth in the high heaven: so is the beauty of a good wife in the ordering of her house. But a grief of heart and sorrow is a woman that is jealous over an other woman, and a scourge of the tongue which communicateth with all. An evil wife is a yoke shaken to and fro: he that hath hold of her is as though he held a scorpion. Give me any plague, but the plague of the heart: and any wickedness, but the wickedness of a woman: I had rather dwell with a lion and a dragon, than to keep house with a wicked woman. The wickedness of a woman changeth her face, and darkeneth her countenance like sackcloth. Her husband shall sit among his neighbours; and when he heareth it shall sigh bitterly. All wickedness is but little to the wickedness of a woman: let the portion of a sinner fall upon her. Better is the churlishness of a man than a courteous woman, a woman, I say, which bringeth shame and reproach. A dishonest woman contemneth shame: but an honest woman will reverence her husband. A wicked woman is given as a portion to a wicked man: but a godly woman is given unto him that feareth the Lord. As the climbing up a sandy way is to the feet of the aged, so is a wife full of words to a quiet man. Stumble not at the beauty of a woman, and desire her not for pleasure. Turn away thine eye from a beautiful woman, and look not upon another's beauty; for many have been deceived by the beauty of a woman; for herewith love is kindled as a fire. Hast thou a wife after thy mind? forsake her not: but give not thyself over to a light woman. Be not jealous over the wife of thy bosom, and teach her not any evil lesson against thyself. Forego not a wise and good woman: for her grace is above gold. On Friendship. Ecclesiasticus. A faithful friend is a strong defence: and he that hath found such an one hath found a treasure. Nothing doth countervail a faithful friend, and his excellency is invaluable. A faithful friend is the medicine of life; and they that fear the Lord shall find him. Whoso feareth the Lord shall direct his friendship aright: for as he is, so shall his neighbour be also. From the same. Every friend saith, I am his friend also: but there is a friend, which is only a friend in name.. Is it not a grief unto death, when a companion |