to understand a proverb and an allegory, the words of the wise and their enigmas.

cast in thy lot among us; we will all have one purse:

my son, walk not in the way with them, keep back thy foot from their path;

For in vain the net is spread in the sight of anything which hath wings.

And these lay wait for their own blood; they lurk secretly for their own lives.

So are the paths of every one that is greedy of gain: it taketh away the life of its possessors.

Wisdom crieth without; she raiseth her voice in the broadways;

she calleth in the chief place of concourse, in the entry of the gates; in the city she uttereth her words:

How long, simple ones, will ye love simpleness, and scorners take pleasure in their scorning, and the foolish hate knowledge?

Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one regarded;

I also will laugh in your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh;

when your fear cometh as sudden destruction, and your calamity cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come upon you:

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

He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to them that walk in integrity;

When wisdom entereth into thy heart and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul,

from those who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of evil;

whose paths are crooked, and who are perverted in their course:

that thou mayest walk in the way of the good, And keep the paths of the righteous.

For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it;

and thou shalt find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

Confide in Jehovah with all thy heart, and lean not unto thine own intelligence;

in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will make plain thy paths.

Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear Jehovah, and depart from evil:

so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy vats shall overflow with new wine.

for whom Jehovah loveth he chasteneth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

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

Then shalt thou walk in thy way securely, and thy foot shall not stumble;

when thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid, but thou shalt lie down and thy sleep shall be sweet.

Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the destruction of the wicked, when it cometh;

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thy hand to do it.

Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give, when thou hast it by thee.

For the perverse is an abomination to Jehovah; but his secret is with the upright.

The curse of Jehovah is in the house of the wicked; but he blesseth the habitation of the righteous.

For I was a son unto my father, tender and an only one in the sight of my mother.

Exalt her, and she shall promote thee; she shall bring thee to honour when thou dost embrace her.

I will teach thee in the way of wisdom, I will lead thee in paths of uprightness.

When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.

Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men:

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

But the path of the righteous is as the shining light, going on and brightening until the day be fully come.

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

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

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

and thou mourn in thine end, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed;

I was well nigh in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

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

Thy fountains shall be poured forth, as water-brooks in the broadways.

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

His own iniquities shall take the wicked, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.

He shall die for want of discipline; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

provideth her bread in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

How long, sluggard, wilt thou lie down? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

So shall thy poverty come as a roving plunderer, and thy penury as an armed man.

deceits are in his heart; he deviseth mischief at all times, he soweth discords.

Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly: in a moment shall he be broken, and without remedy.

These six things doth Jehovah hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations; feet that are swift in running to mischief;

when thou walkest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

Lust not after her beauty in thy heart, neither let her take thee with her eyelids;

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

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

So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife: whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.

They do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry:

Whoso committeth adultery with a woman is void of understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

For jealousy is the rage of a man, and he will not spare in the day of vengeance;

in the twilight, in the evening of the day, in the blackness of night and the darkness.

And behold, there met him a woman in the attire of a harlot, and subtle of heart.

She is clamorous and unmanageable; her feet abide not in her house:

now without, now in the broadways, and she lieth in wait at every corner.

And she caught him and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,

Come, let us revel in love until the morning, let us delight ourselves with loves.

he hath taken the money-bag with him, he will come home on the day of the full moon.

He went after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, and as stocks serve for the correction of the fool;

till an arrow strike through his liver: as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for its life.

Let not thy heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths:

On the top of high places by the way, at the cross-paths she taketh her stand.

Beside the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors, she crieth aloud.

For my palate shall meditate truth, and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

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

I walk in the path of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment:

Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.

When there were no depths, I was brought forth, when there were no fountains abounding with water.

When he prepared the heavens I was there; when he ordained the circle upon the face of the deep;

when he established the skies above, when the fountains of the deep became strong;

when he imposed on the sea his decree that the waters should not pass his commandment, when he appointed the foundations of the earth:

rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of men.

but he that sinneth against me doeth violence to his own soul: all they that hate me love death.

she hath slaughtered her cattle, she hath mingled her wine, she hath also prepared her table;

Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. To him that is void of understanding, she saith,

Come, eat ye of my bread, and drink of the wine that I have mingled.

Forsake follies and live, and go in the way of intelligence.

And she sitteth at the entry of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,

to call passers-by who go right on their ways:

Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. And to him that is void of understanding she saith,

But he knoweth not that the dead are there; that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

He that gathereth in summer is a wise son; he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.

The wise in heart receiveth commandments; but a prating fool shall fall.

He that walketh in integrity walketh securely; but he that perverteth his ways shall be known.

In the lips of an intelligent man wisdom is found; but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding.