I The Sluggard
Go to the ant, thou Sluggard;
Consider her ways, and be wise:
Which having no chief,
Overseer,
Or ruler,
Provideth her meat in the summer,
And gathereth her food in the harvest.
How long wilt thou sleep, O Sluggard?
When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
“Yet a little sleep,
A little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep”—
So shall thy poverty come as a robber,
And thy want as an armed man!
Ii
The Mourning for the Fool
Weep for the dead,
For light hath failed him;
And weep for a fool,
For understanding hath failed him:
Weep more sweetly for the dead,
Because he hath found rest;
But the life of the fool
Is worse than death.
Seven days are the days of mourning for the dead: But for a fool and an ungodly man, all the days of his life.
Iii
The Two Paths
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 paths of uprightness.
When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened;
And if thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
Take fast hold of instruction;
Let her not go:
Keep her;
For she is thy life.
Enter not into the path of the wicked,
And walk not in the way of evil men.
Avoid it,
Pass not by it;
Turn from it,
And pass on.
For they sleep not, except they have done mischief;
And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
For they eat the bread of wickedness,
And drink the wine of violence.
But the path of the righteous is as the light of dawn,
That shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
The way of the wicked is as darkness:
They know not at what they stumble.
Iv
The Creator has made Wisdom the Supreme Prize
My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord;
Neither be weary of his reproof:
For whom the Lord loveth he reproveth;
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 better than the merchandise of silver,
And the gain thereof than fine gold.
She is more precious than rubies:
And none of the things thou canst desire are to be compared unto her.
Length of days is in her right hand;
In her left hand are riches and honour.
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 one that retaineth her.
The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
By understanding he established the heavens.
By his knowledge the depths were broken up,
And the skies drop down the dew.
V
Watchfulness of Lips and Heart
Who shall set a watch over my mouth,
And a seal of shrewdness upon my lips,
That I fall not from it,
And that my tongue destroy me not?
O Lord, Father and Master of my life,
Abandon me not to their counsel:
Suffer me not to fall by them.
Who will set scourges over my thought,
And a discipline of wisdom over mine heart?
That they spare me not for mine ignorances,
And my heart pass not by their sins:
That mine ignorances be not multiplied,
And my sins abound not;
And I shall fall before mine adversaries,
And mine enemy rejoice over me?
O Lord, Father and God of my life,
Give me not a proud look,
And turn away concupiscence from me.
Let not greediness and chambering overtake me,
And give me not over to a shameless mind.
Vi
Wisdom and the Fear of the Lord
All wisdom cometh from the Lord,
And is with him for ever.
The sand of the seas,
And the drops of rain,
And the days of eternity, who shall number?
The height of the heaven,
And the breadth of the earth, and the deep,
And wisdom, who shall search them out?
Wisdom hath been created before all things,
And the understanding of prudence from everlasting.
To whom hath the root of wisdom been revealed?
And who hath known her shrewd counsels?
There is one wise,
Greatly to be feared,
The Lord sitting upon his throne:
He created her,
And saw, and numbered her,
And poured her out upon all his works.
She is with all flesh according to his gift;
And he gave her freely to them that love him.
The fear of the Lord
Is glory and exultation,
And gladness, and a crown of rejoicing.
The fear of the Lord
Shall delight the heart,
And shall give gladness, and joy, and length of days.
Whoso feareth the Lord,
It shall go well with him at the last,
And in the day of his death he shall be blessed.
To fear the Lord
Is the beginning of wisdom;
And it was created together with the faithful in the womb.
With men she laid an eternal foundation;
And with their seed shall she be had in trust.
To fear the Lord
Is the fulness of wisdom;
And she satiateth men with her fruits.
She shall fill all her house with desirable things,
And her garners with her produce.
The fear of the Lord
Is the crown of wisdom,
Making peace and perfect health to flourish.
He both saw and numbered her;
He rained down skill and knowledge of understanding,
And exalted the honour of them that hold her fast.
To fear the Lord
Is the root of wisdom;
And her branches are length of days.
Vii
Wisdom and the Strange Woman
1
My son, keep my words,
And lay up my commandments with thee.
Keep my commandments, and live;
And my law, as the apple of thine eye.
Bind them upon thy fingers;
Write them upon the table of thine heart.
Say unto Wisdom, Thou art my sister;
And call Understanding thy kinswoman:
That they may keep thee from the Strange Woman,
From the stranger which flattereth with her words.
2
For at the window of my house
I looked forth through my lattice;
And I beheld among the simple ones,
I discerned among the youths,
A young man,
Void of understanding,
Passing through the street near her corner,
And he went the way to her house;
In the twilight, in the evening of the day,
In the blackness of night and the darkness;
And behold, there met him a Woman
With the attire of an harlot, and wily of heart.
She is clamorous and wilful;
Her feet abide not in her house;
Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places,
And lieth in wait at every corner.
So she caught him, and kissed him,
With an impudent face she said unto him:
“Sacrifices of peace offerings are with me;
This day have I paid my vows;
Therefore came I forth to meet thee,
Diligently to seek thy face,
And I have found thee.
I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry,
With striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt;
I have perfumed my bed
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
Come, let us take our fill of love
Until the morning;
Let us solace ourselves with loves;
For the goodman is not at home,
He is gone a long journey:
He hath taken a bag of money with him;
He will come home at the full moon.”
With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield,
With the flattering of her lips she forceth him away.
He goeth after her straightway,
As an ox goeth to the slaughter,
Or as one in fetters to 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 his life.
3
Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me,
And attend to the words of my mouth.
Let not thine heart decline to her ways,
Go not astray in her paths.
For she hath cast down many wounded:
Yea, all her slain are a mighty host.
Her house is the way to Sheol,
Going down to the chambers of death.
4
Doth not Wisdom cry,
And Understanding put forth her voice?
In the top of high places by the way,
Where the paths meet,
She standeth;
Beside the gates, at the entry of the city,
At the coming in at the doors,
She crieth aloud:
Unto you, O men, I call;
And my voice is to the sons of men.
O ye simple, understand subtilty;
And ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.
Hear, for I will speak excellent things;
And the opening of my lips shall be right things.
For my mouth shall utter truth;
And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
All the words of my mouth are righteousness;
There is nothing crooked or perverse in them.
They are all plain to him that understandeth,
And right to them that find knowledge
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 unto her.
5
I Wisdom have made subtilty my dwelling,
And find out knowledge and discretion.
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogancy,
And the evil way,
And the froward mouth, do I hate.
Counsel is mine,
And sound knowledge;
I am understanding,
I have might.
By me kings reign,
And princes decree justice;
By me princes rule,
And nobles, even all the judges of the earth.
I love them that love me;
And those that seek me diligently shall find me.
Riches and honour are with me;
Durable riches and righteousness;
My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold;
And my revenue than choice silver.
I walk in the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of judgement:
That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance,
And that I may fill their treasuries.
6
The Lord formed 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 no depths, I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, was I brought forth:
While as yet he had not made the earth,
Nor the fields,
Nor the beginning of the dust of the world.
When he established the heavens, I was there:
When he set a circle upon the face of the deep:
When he made firm the skies above:
When the fountains of the deep became strong:
When he gave to the sea its bound,
That the waters should not transgress his commandment:
When he marked out the foundations of the earth,
Then I was by him,
As a master workman,
And I was daily his delight,
Sporting always before him;
Sporting in his habitable earth;
And my delight was with the sons of men.
7
Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me:
For blessed are they that keep my ways.
Hear instruction, and be wise,
And refuse it not.
Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
For whoso findeth me findeth life,
And shall obtain favour of the Lord;
But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul;
All they that hate me love death.