- 1
- Be not thou enuious to folow wicked men, and desire not to be among them:
- 2
- For their heart imagineth to do hurt, and their lippes talke mischiefe.
- 3
- Thorowe wysdome is an house buylded, & with vnderstanding is it set vp.
- 4
- Thorowe discretion shall the chaumbers be filled with all costly and pleasaunt riches.
- 5
- A wise man is [euer] strong: yea a man of vnderstanding increaseth strength.
- 6
- For with discretion must warres be taken in hand: and where as are many that can geue counsaile, there is health.
- 7
- Wysdome is to hye a thyng for a foole: for he dare not open his mouth in the gate.
- 8
- He that imagineth mischiefe, maye well be called an vngratious person.
- 9
- The wicked thought of the foolishe is sinne: and the scornefull is an abhomination vnto men.
- 10
- If thou be faynt in the day of aduersitie, thy strength is small.
- 11
- Deliuer them that are drawen vnto death, and ceasse not to preserue them that are led to be slayne:
- 12
- If thou wylt say, beholde I knewe not of it: doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it?
And he that kepeth thy soule, knoweth he it not? Shall not he also recompence euery man according to his workes?
- 13
- My sonne, eate thou hony because it is good, and the hony combe, for it is sweete vnto thy mouth:
- 14
- So [sweete] shal the knowledge of wysdome be vnto thy soule when thou hast found it: and there shalbe hope, and thy hope shall not be cut of.
- 15
- Laye no priuie wayte (O wicked man) against the house of the righteous, and spoyle not his resting place.
- 16
- For a iust man falleth seuen tymes, and ryseth vp agayne: but the vngodly fall into mischiefe.
- 17
- Reioyce not thou at the fall of thyne enemie, and let not thyne heart be glad when he stumbleth:
- 18
- Lest the Lorde when he seeth it be angry, and turne his wrath from hym [vnto thee.]
- 19
- Fret not thy selfe because of the malitious, neither be enuious at the wicked:
- 20
- For the wicked shall haue no posteritie, and the candle of the vngodly shalbe put out.
- 21
- My sonne, feare thou the Lorde and the kyng, and kepe no company with them that slide backe [from his feare:]
- 22
- For their destruction shall rise sodainlye: and who knoweth the aduersitie that may come from them both?
- 23
- It is not good to haue respect of any person in iudgement.
- 24
- He that saith to the vngodly thou art righteous, hym shall the people curse, yea the comminaltie shall abhorre him:
- 25
- But they that rebuke [the vngodly] in them doth God delight, and a rych blessing shall come vpon them.
- 26
- Euery man shall kisse his lippes that geueth a good aunswere.
- 27
- Make redie thy worke that is without, and looke well vnto that whiche thou hast in the fielde: and then buylde thyne house.
- 28
- Be not a false witnesse against thy neighbour, and speake no falsehood with thy lippes.
- 29
- Say not, I wyll handle hym euen as he hath dealt with me: and wyll rewarde euery man according to his deedes.
- 30
- I went by the fielde of the slouthfull, and by the vineyarde of the foolishe man:
- 31
- And lo, it was all couered with nettles, and stoode full of thornes, and the stone wall was broken downe.
- 32
- This I sawe, and considered it well: I looked vpon it, and toke it for a warning.
- 33
- Yea sleepe on styll [I say] a litle, slumber a litle, folde thy handes together yet a litle:
- 34
- So shall pouertie come vnto thee as one that trauayleth by the way, and necessitie lyke a weaponed man.
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