PART II..

WISDOM SERIES

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1.

THE

PROVERBS.

FIRST COLLECTION.

CHAPTER I. A

Introduction. Warning against evil company.

THE proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel: 2. That one may learn wisdom and instruction,

And receive words of understanding;

3. That one may gain the instruction of prudence,

Justice, equity, and uprightness;

4. Which will give caution to the simple,

To the young man wisdom and discretion;

5. Let the wise man hear, and he will increase his knowledge,

And the man of understanding will gain wise counsels;

6. So as to understand a proverb and a deep maxim,

7.

8.

The words of the wise and their dark sayings.

*The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Hear, O my son! the instruction of thy father, And neglect not the teaching of thy mother!

9. For they shall be a graceful wreath for thy head, And a chain around thy neck.

The Proverbs were composed by successive generations of didactic poets for the express purpose of teaching the ways of wisdom and righteousness to the young of their people. The first religious and moral wants of children may, therefore, best be supplied from the rich sources of the Proverbs which present to the young the golden apples of moral maxims in a silver setting of religious truth.

An asterisk indicates that the sentence before which it is placed, should be committed to memory; the short superscriptions of the chapters are intended to assist the teacher in forming the proper questions.

11. If they say,

"Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, Let us lurk secretly for him who is innocent in vain; 12. Let us swallow them up alive, like the underworld,

Yea, in full health, as those that go down into the pit; 13. We shall find all kinds of precious substance,

We shall fill our houses with spoil;

14. Thou shalt cast thy lot among us We will all have one purse;

15. My son, walk thou not in their way, Refrain thy foot from their path!

16. For their feet run to evil,

And make haste to shed blood. 17. For as the net is spread in vain Before the eyes of any bird,

18. So they lie in wait for their own blood;
They lurk secretly for their own lives.
19. Such are the ways of every one greedy of gain;
It taketh away the life of its owner.

1.

CHAPTER II.

The exhortation of Wisdom

WISDOM crieth out in the highway;

In the market-place she uttereth her voice;

2. At the head of the noisy streets she crieth aloud;

At the entrances of the gates, throughout the city, she proclaimeth her words [saying:]

3. "How long, ye simple ones, will ye love vanity? How long will scoffers delight themselves in scoffing, And fools hate knowledge?

4. Turn ye at my repoof!

5.

Behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;

I will make known my words to you!

"Because I have stretched out my hand, and no one hath regarded,

6. Because ye have rejected all my counsel,

And have slighted my rebuke,

7. I also will laugh at your calamity,

I will mock when your fear cometh;

8. When your fear cometh upon you like a storm, And destruction overtaketh you like a whirlwind.

When distress aud anguish come upon you.

THE PROVERBS.

9. Then will they call upon me, but I will not answer! They will seek me early, but they shall not find me! 10. Because they have hated my knowledge,

And have not chosen the fear of the LORD,11. Because they would not attend to my counsel, And have despised all my reproof,

12. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own devices;
13. Yea, the stubbornness of the stupid shall slay them,
And the carelessness of fools shall destroy them.
14, But whoso hearkeneth to me shall dwell securely,
And shall not be disquieted with the fear of evil.

1.

CHAPTER III.

The pursuit of wisdom leads to virtue and piety.

Oн, my son, that thou wouldst receive my words, And treasure up my precepts within thee; 2. That thou wouldst apply thine ear to wisdom, And incline thy heart to understanding! 3. For if thou wilt call aloud to knowledge, And lift up thy voice to understanding,4. If thou wilt seek her silver,

And search for her as for hidden treasures,5. Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God.

6. For the LORD giveth wisdom;

From his mouth proceed knowledge and understanding:

7. He layeth up safety for the righteous;

He is a shield to them that walk uprightly;

8. He guardeth the paths of equity,

And defendeth the way of his servants.

9. Then shalt thou understand righteousness and equity And uprightness, yea, every good path.

10.

**When wisdom entereth into thy heart, And knowledge is pleasant to thy soul,

11. Discretion will guard thee,

Understanding will preserve thee.

12. It will preserve thee from the way of the wicked, From the men who speak perverse things;

13. Who forsake the paths of uprightness,

To walk in the ways of darkness;

14. Who rejoice in doing evil,

And delight in the perverseness of the wicked;

15. Whose paths are crooked, and who are froward in their ways. 16. It will deliver thee from the stranger, who useth smooth words; 17. Who forsaketh the friend of her youth,

And forgetteth the covenant of her God. 18. For her house sinketh down to Death, And her paths to the shades of the dead: 19. None that go to her return again;

They will not attain the paths of life. 20. Therefore walk thou in the way of good men, And keep the paths of the righteous: 21. For the upright shall dwell in the land, And the righteous shall remain in it;

22. But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, And transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

1.

CHAPTER IV.

་་་་

First principles. Obedience, Reliance upon God. Patience
under the divine chastisements. Value of wisdom.

My son, forget not my teaching,
And let thy heart observe my precepts!
2. For length of days, and years of life,
And peace shall they multiply to thee.
3. Let not kindness and truth forsake thee;
Bind them around thy neck,

Write them upon the tablets of thy heart: 4. Then shalt thou find favor and good success In the sight of God and man.

5. *Trust in the LORD with all thy heart,
And lean not on thine own understanding

6. In all thy ways acknowledge him,
And he will make thy paths plain.
7. *Be not wise in thine own eyes;
Fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
8. It shall be health to thy muscles,
And moisture to thy bones.

9.

Honor the LORD with thy substance, And with the first-fruits of all thy increase; 10. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty,

And thy vats overflow with new wine, 11. *My son, despise not the correction of the LORD, Nor be impatient under his chastisement!

12. For whom the LORD loveth he chasteneth,

Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

13. *Withhold not kindness from those who need it,
When it is in the power of thy hand to do it.
14. *Say not thy neighbor, "Go, and come again,

And to-morrow I will give to thee," when thou hast it by thee. 15. *Devise not evil against thy neighbor,

While he dwelleth securely by thee:

16. *Contend not with a man without cause,

When he hath done thee no harm.

17. Envy not the oppressor,

And choose none of his ways.

18. For the perverse man is the abomination of the LORD,
But he is in friendship with the upright.
19. Surely the scorners he treateth scornfully,

But giveth favor to the lowly.

20. The wise shall obtain honor,

But fools shall bear off shame.

21. *Happy the man who findeth wisdom; Yea, the man who getteth understanding!

22. *For the profit thereof is greater than that of silver, And the gain thereof than that of fine gold.

23. *More precious is she than pearls,

And none of thy jewels is to be compared with her.

24. *Length of days is in her right hand

In her left hand are riches and honor.

25. *Her ways are ways of pleasantness,. And all her paths are peace.

26. *She is a tree of life to them that lay hold of her, And happy is every one who hath her in his

27.

The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
By understanding he framed the heavens.
28. By his knowledge the deep waters were cleft,
And the clouds drop down the dew.

29.

grasp.

My son, let them not depart from thine eyes;
Keep sound wisdom and discretion !

30. For they shall be life to thy soul,

And grace to thy neck.

31. Then shalt thou go on thy way securely,

And thy foot shall not stumble;

32. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid,

Yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

33. *Be thou not afraid of sudden alarm;

Nor of the storm that is for the wicked, when it cometh;

34. For the LORD shall be thy confidence;

Yea, he will keep thy foot from being taken.