The use of the proverbs.

P S A L. CL.

i Ah exhortation to praise God, 3 with all kind of instruments.

PRAISE ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

i Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. 3 Praise him with the sound of the

trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high founding cymbals.

6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lo it D. Praise ye the Lor D.

The PRO

CHAP. I.

J The use of the proverbs. 7 An exhortation to fear God, and believe his ivord; 10 tt avoid the enticing; of sinners. 20 Wisdom complaineth of her contempt: 24 pie threateneth her contemners.

THE Proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; » To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;

3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgement, and equity;

4.To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding (hall attain unto wise counsels:

6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

7 »J The fear of the Lor D is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

% My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

9 For theyfhallbe an ornament of grace unto thy head,and chains about thy neck.

10 fl My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.

11 If they fey, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

11 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:

13 We shall rind all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:

14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:

i5Myson,wa!knotthouinthewaywith them; refrain thy foot from their path:

16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to feed blood.

17 Surely in vain the net is spread in (he fight of any bird.

i8And they lay wait for tneiro-iun blood; ttcy lurk privily for their own lives.

VERBS. ,

19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

20 fl Wisdom crieth without; (he uttereth her voice in the streets:

21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city ihe uttereth her words, faying,

22 How_ long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity; and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

24 «J Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

_ 27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

2* Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

29For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lor D t

30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

32 For the turninyaway of the simple shall flay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and (hall be quiet from fear of evil.

CHAP. II. i Wisdom promiseth godliness to her children, 10 and safety from evil company, 20 and direction in good luays.

MY son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;

M m 3 2 So

i So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, «H(/liftest up the voice for understanding;

4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

5 Then (halt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

6 For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

8 He keepeth the paths of judgement, and preserveth the way of his saints.

9 Then malt thou understand righteousness, and judgement, and equity; yea, every good path.

i o fl When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;

11 Discretion (hall preserve thee, understanding (hall keep thee:

i z To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;

J 3 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in. the ways of darkness;

14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardnese of the wicked;

15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:

16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

t7 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.

19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold ofthe paths of life.

20 fl That thou tnrtycst walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. •

4i For the upright sliall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.

21 But the wicked sliall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors (hall be rooted out of it.

CHAP. III. j An exhortation to obedience, 5 to faith, j to mortification, 9 to devotion, it to patience. 13 The happy gain of-wisdom. 19 Thepozver, 21 and benefits of wisdom. »7 An exhortation to charitableness, 30 pcaceableness, 31 and contentedness. 33 The cursed fate of the ivicied.

MY son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:

* For length of days and long life, and peace sliall they add to thee.

3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; wiite them upon the- table of thine heart:

4 So (halt thou find savour, and good understanding in the sijjlit oi' God and man.

5 H Trust in the Lo R n with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy*ways acknowledge him, and he (hall direct thy paths.

7 ff Be not wife in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

8 It sliall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

9 m Honour the Lord with thy sub. stance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

10 So sliall thy bams be filled with plenty, and thy presses sliall burst out with new wine.

11 ^f My son, despise not the chastening of the Lor D; neither be wear)' of his correction:

iz For whom the Lord loveth lie correcteth; even as a father the son in ivhom he delighteth.

13 f\ Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandiic of silver, and the gain thereof than sine gold.

15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not be compared unto her.

16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.

17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is ettrj one that retaineth her.

19^[ The LoRDby wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath lit establisoed the heavens.

20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

21 fl My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:

22 So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

23 Then (halt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.

*4 When thou licit down, thou malt

not not be afraid: yea, thou (halt lie down, and thy deep shall be sweet.

25 Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.

16 For the Lor D shall be thy confidence, and (hall keep thy foot from being taken.

27 f Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do //.

28 Say not unto thy neighbour, Co, and come again, and to morrow I will, give; when thou hall it by thee.

19 Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.

30 fj Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.

3! *J Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.

32 For the froward is abomination to the Lord: but his secret is with the righteous.

3j 51 The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.

34. Surely he scorneth the scorner*: lut he giveth grace unto the lowly.

35 The wise (hall inherit glory: but fcarae (hall be the promotion of fools.

C H A P. IV. 1 Solomon, to persuade obedience, isheiveth

what instruSion he had os his parents,

j to study ivisdom, 14 and to shun the

path of the ivicked. 10 He exhorteth to

faith, 13 andsan3ification.

HEAR, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.

s For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.

3 f For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.

4. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.

5 ^f Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not j neither decline from the words of my mouth.

6 Forsake her not, and she sti all preserve thee: love her, and (he (hall keep thee.

7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

8 Exalt her, and (he (hall promote thee: (he (hail bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.

9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory (hall lie deliver to thee.

10 Hear, O my son, and receive my

sayings 5 and the years of thy life shall be many.

11 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have Ted thee in right paths.

12 When thou goelt, thy lteps (hall not be straitened; and when thou runnelt, thou shalt not stumble.

13 Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her, for (he is thy life.

1+ fl Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the wiy of evil men.

15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.

16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.

17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

18 But the path of the just is as the (hining light, that sliineth more and. more unto the perfect day.

19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stum, ble.

20 f[ My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my layings.

21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

2 3 ^f Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

2+ Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.

15 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before tllee.

26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

CHAP. V. 1 Solomon exhorteth to the study of •■wisdom.

3 He fhenueth the mischief os 'whoredom andriot. 1 $Heexhorteth to contentednefs, liberality, and chastity. 22 "The 'wicked are overtaken with their o*wnJins,

MY son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

3 «J For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, (harp as a two edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

6 Lest thou sliouldest ponder the path Mm* of

that

of life, her ways are moveable, thou canit not know them.

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 thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

io Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flelh and thy body arc consumed.

ii And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers; nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

15 fl Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

16Lct thy fountains bedispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.

18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

19 Let her be as the loving hind, and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

io And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.

22 W His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he (hall be holden with the cords of his fins.

23 He mall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he (hall go astray.

CHAP. VI. 1 Againstsuretijhip, 6 idleness, 1 z and misch'wuousness. zoTheblcffingsofobedience. 25 The mischiefs as'whoredom.

MY son, if thou be surety for thy friend, //thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,

2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.

4 Give not sleep to mine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids,

5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6 fl Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,

8 Provideth her meatjn the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

it So (hall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, ana thy want as an armed man.

12 ^[ A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a fioward mouth.

13 He winketh with his eyes, he speak eth with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;

14 Frowardness is in his heart, he deviscth mischief continually; he soweth discord.

15 Therefore (hall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.

16 fl These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that slied innocent blood,

18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

19 A false witness that fpeaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

20 fl My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.

22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou steepest, it shall keep thee; and tuhen thou awakest, it (hall talk with thee.

23 FoAhe commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

25 flLust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

26 For by means of a whoristi woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulterous will hunt for the precious life.

27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?

s« Can The simplicity of a wanton.

it Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?

19 So he that goeth into his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not he innocent.

30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry j

31 But if he be found, he (hall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.

31 But whoso committeth adultery with

a woman lacketh understanding: he that

doeth it deltroyeth his own soul.

- 33 A wound and dishonour (hall he

get; and his reproach shall not be wiped

away. 34. For jealousy is the rage of a man:

therefore he will not spare in the day of

vengeance. •"" 35 He will not regard any ransom;

neither will he rest content, though thou

giveil many gifts.

CHAP. VII.

1 Solomon persuades h to a sincere and kind familiarity with •wisdom. 6 In an exam-, pie of his oivn experience hesiieiveth, 1 o the cunning of a whore, 21 and the desperate simplicity of a young •wanton. 14. He dehorteth from such 'wickedness.

MY son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. x Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.

3 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.

4. Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:

5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger •which stattereth with her words.

6 fl For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,

7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,

$ Passing through the street near her corner; and hewenttheway tohcrhouie,

9 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:

10 And, behold, there met him a woman -with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:

ii Now is /he without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)

13 $0 (he caught him, and killed him, aud with an impudent face said unto him,

14. / have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.

j 5 Therefore came I forth to meet

thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.

16 I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.

17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.

19 For the good man is not at home, he is gone a long journey:

so He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at die day appointed.

ai With her much fair speech (he caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips (he forced him.

iz fl He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the (laughter, or as'a fool to the correction of the stocks;

*3 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

»4 ff Hearken unto me now therefore,

0 ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.

15 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray-in her paths.

16 For (he hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been (lain by her.

*7 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. CHAP. VIII.

1 The fame, 6 and evidence of •wisdom. 10

The excellency, \xthe nature, 15 thepower, 18 theriches, tiand the eternity of it.

DOTH not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? i Shestandeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.

3 She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.

4 Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.

5 O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye foolfi, beye of an understanding heart.

6 fl Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips/Aa// be right things.

7 For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

8 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.

9 They are all plain to him that understand dh, and right to them that find knowledge.

10 fl Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.

»1 For