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for their own lives. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, 22saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?

and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate 28 knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

LESSON CXI.

Chapter III.

My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep ⚫ my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write 4 them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and

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man.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways ackn wledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and mar

9 row to thy bones. Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

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My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is

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better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof 15 than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared 16 unto her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of 18 pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every 19 one that retaineth her. The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heav20 ens. By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

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LESSON CXII.

Chapter III.

My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will 29 give; when thou hast it by thee. Devise not evil against securely by thee.

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thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth

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

Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. For the froward is abomination to the Lord: but his secret is with the righteous.

The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just. Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.

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The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the pro motion of fools.

LESSON CXIII.

Chapter IV.

Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend

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to know understanding.

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For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and 8 with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, 9 when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she 10 deliver to thee. Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right

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12 paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction: let her not go: keep her: for she is thy life.

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and pass away.

Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they 17 cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, 18 and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto

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the perfect day.
they know not at what they stumble.

The way of the wicked is as darkness:

20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my 21 sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

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Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eye-lids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

LESSON CXIV.

Chapter XII.

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not 8 darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be ♦ darkened, And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low; Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond-tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets : Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

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LESSON CXV.

The Prophet complains of Judah.- His Exhortation.

CH. I. Į The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw conv. 1. cerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken; I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people 4 doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

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Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

Wash you, make you clean put away the evil of your 17 doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the 18 fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us

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reason together, saith the Lord:

though your sins be as

scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be

red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be will20ing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But

if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.