est it altogether: thou hast beset 2 Great is the LORD, and greatly me behind and before, and laid thine to be praised; his greatness is unhand upon me. searchable. 3 Such knowledge is too wonder 3 One generation shall repeat thy ful for me; it is high, I cannot attain | works to another, and shall declare unto it. thy mighty acts: they shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. 4 The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great mercy: he is good to all: his tender mercies are over all his works: he upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that are bowed down. 4 Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? if I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in the grave, behold, thou art there: if I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;-even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me: if I say, Surely the 5 The eyes of all wait upon thee, darkness shall cover me; even the and thou givest them their meat in night shall be light about me. Yea, due season: thou openest thine hand, the darkness hideth not from thee; and satisfiest the desire of every but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. 5 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 6 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! if I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. 7 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. SELECTION XXX. I WILL extol thee, my God, and I will bless thy name for ever and ever: every day will I bless thee, and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. living thing. 6 The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. 7 The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth: he will fulfil the desire of them that reverence him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. 8 Praise ye the LORD: it is good to sing praises unto our God; it is pleasant; and praise is comely: for he healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. 9 Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion: for he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee. He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat: he sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly. He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoar frost like ashes: he casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can causeth his wind to blow, and the stand before his cold? He sendeth waters flow. out his word, and melteth them he 10 Praise ye the LORD. HEBREW SCRIPTURES.-PROVERBS. SELECTION I. 6 Turn you at my reproof: be THE HE fear of the LORD is the be- hold, I will pour out my spirit unto ginning of knowledge: but you, I will make known my words fools despise wisdom and instruc- unto you. tion. 2 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck. 3 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not: if they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent; we shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: cast in thy lot among us, let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way with them, refrain thy foot from their path: for their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. 4 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird: such as these lay wait for their own blood, they lurk privily for their own lives. So also are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain. 5 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, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love folly? and ye scorners delight in scorning, and ye fools hate knowledge? 7 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; because ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh. 8 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come upon you :-then shall ye call upon me, but I will not answer; ye shall seek me early, but shall not find me. For ye hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: ye would none of my counsel: ye despised all my reproof. Therefore shall ye eat of the fruit of your own way, and be filled with your own devices: the turning away of the simple shall slay you, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy you. 9 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. SELECTION II. MY son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understand- MY ing; if thou seekest her as silver, SELECTION III. Y son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my com and searchest for her as for hid mandments: for length of days, and treasures; then shalt thou under- long life, and peace, shall they add stand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. to thee. 2 Let not mercy and truth forsake 2 The LORD giveth wisdom; out thee: bind them about thy neck; of his mouth cometh knowledge and write them upon the table of thine understanding: he layeth up sound heart: so shalt thou find favor and wisdom for the righteous: he is a good understanding in the sight of buckler to them that walk uprightly: God and man. he keepeth the paths of judgment, 3 Trust in the LORD with all thine and preserveth the way of his heart, and lean not unto thine own. saints. understanding: in all thy ways ac 3 When wisdom entereth into knowledge him, and he shall direct thine heart, and knowledge is pleas- thy paths. evil. 5 Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. ant unto thy soul; then discretion 4 Be not wise in thine own eyes: shall preserve thee, and understand- fear the LORD, and depart from ing shall keep thee, to deliver thee from the way of evil men, from men who speak froward things; who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; whose 6 My son, despise not the chastenways are crooked. To deliver thee ing of the LORD; neither be weary also from the strange woman, even of his correction: for whom the from the stranger who flattereth with LORD loveth he correcteth; even as her words; who forsaketh the guide a father the son in whom he delightof her youth, and forgetteth the cove- eth. nant of her God; whose house in- 7 Happy is the man that findeth clineth unto death, and her paths wisdom, and the man that getteth unto the dead; for none that go unto understanding: the merchandise of her return again, neither take they it is better than the merchandise of hold of the paths of life. 4 Walk thou in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous: for the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it but the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it. silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold: it is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto it. Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honor: her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace: she is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her and happy is every little slumber, a little folding of the one that retaineth her. hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. 8 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens: by his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. 9 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: so 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. 10 Withhold not benevolence from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it: say not unto thy neighbor, Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee. II Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways: for the curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just. 3 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him :-a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. 4 Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life. 5 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, and pass away: for they sleep not, except they have done mischief; their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall; they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. 6 The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day: but the way of the wicked is as darkness, they know not at what they stum 12 Surely he scorneth the scorners, but giveth grace unto the lowly: the wise shall inherit glory, but ble. shame shall be the promotion of fools. 7 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 8 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. 9 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 10 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. II The commandment is a lamp: perverse in them: they are all plain the law is light; reproofs of instruc- to him that understandeth, and right tion are the way of life. to them that find knowledge. 12 Keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman: lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids. Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? 3 Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold for wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. 4 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do 13 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman: that they may keep I hate. thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words: let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths: -For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her: her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. DOTH SELECTION V. 5 Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength: by me kings reign, and princes decree justice: by me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. 6 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. 7 Riches and honor are with me, yea, durable riches and righteousOTH not wisdom cry? and un-ness: my fruit is better than gold, derstanding put forth her yea, than fine gold; and my revenue voice? She standeth in the top of than choice silver. high places, by the way in the places of the paths: she crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors : 8 I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures. 9 The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old: I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was: when there were 2 Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man. O ye simple, understand wisdom, and ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things: my no depths, I was brought forth; mouth shall speak truth; wickedness when there were no fountains aboundis an abomination to my lips: all the ing with water: before the mounwords of my mouth are in righteous- tains were settled, before the hills, ness; there is nothing froward or was I brought forth: while as yet he |