- My son, forget not my laws; but let thine heart keep my
words:
- for length of existence, and years of life, and peace, shall they
add to thee.
- Let not mercy and truth forsake thee; but bind them about thy
neck:
- so shalt thou find favour: [a] and do
thou [b] provide things honest in the
sight of the Lord, and of men.
- Trust in God with all thine heart; and be not exalted in thine own
wisdom.
- In all thy ways acquaint thyself with her, that she may rightly [c] direct thy paths.
- Be not wise in thine own conceit; but fear God, and depart from
all evil.
- Then shall there be health to thy body, and good keeping to thy
bones.
- Honour the Lord with thy just labours, and give him the first of
thy fruits of righteousness:
- that thy storehouses may be completely filled with corn, and that
thy presses may burst forth with wine.
- [d] My son, despise not the
chastening of the Lord; nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
- for whom the Lord loves, he rebukes, and scourges every son whom
he receives.
- Blessed is the man who has found wisdom, and the mortal who knows
prudence.
- For it is better to traffic for her, than for treasures of gold
and silver.
- And she is more valuable than precious stones: no evil thing shall
resist her: she is well known to all that approach her, and no
precious thing is equal to her in value.
- For length of existence and years of life are in her right hand;
and in her left hand are wealth and glory: out of her mouth proceeds
righteousness, and she carries law and mercy upon her tongue.
- Her ways are good ways, and all her paths are peaceful.
- She is a tree of life to all that lay hold upon her; and she is
a secure help to all that stay themselves on her, as
on the Lord.
- God by wisdom founded the earth, and by prudence he prepared the
heavens.
- By understanding were the depths broken up, and the clouds dropped
water.
- My son, let them not [e] pass from thee, but keep my
counsel and understanding:
- that thy soul may live, and that there may be grace round thy
neck; and it shall be health to thy flesh, and safety to thy bones:
- that thou mayest go confidently in peace in all thy ways, and that
thy foot may not stumble.
- For if thou [f] rest, thou shalt be
undismayed; and if thou sleep, thou shalt slumber sweetly.
- And thou shalt not be afraid of alarm coming upon thee, neither of
approaching attacks of ungodly men.
- For the Lord shall be over all thy ways, and shall establish thy
foot that thou be not moved.
- Forbear not to do good to the poor, whensoever thy hand may have
power to help him.
- Say not, Come back another time, to-morrow I will give; while thou
art able to do him good: for thou knowest not what the next
day will bring forth.
- Devise not evil against thy friend, living near thee and trusting
in thee.
- Be not ready to quarrel with a man without a cause, lest he do
thee some harm.
- Procure not the reproaches of bad men, neither do thou covet their
ways.
- For every transgressor is unclean before the Lord; neither does he
sit among the righteous.
- The curse of God is in the houses of the ungodly; but the
habitations of the just are blessed.
- [g] The Lord resists the proud; but he
gives grace to the humble.
- The wise shall inherit glory; but the ungodly have exalted
their own dishonour.
[a] Alex. + 'and write them on the
table of thine heart.'
[b] See Rom. 12. 17.
[c] Gr. divide. See 2 Tim. 2. 13.
[d] Heb. 12. 5, 6.
[e] See Heb. 2. 1.
[f] Gr. sit down.
[g] See 1 Pet. 5. 5.
[English translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee
Brenton (1807-1862) originally published by Samuel Bagster & Sons,
Ltd., London, 1851]