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3 wretchedly hampered. Do this now, my fon, and deliver thyfelf, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyfelf, and make fure thy friend; earnestly intreat him to take fome courfe for thy fafety by paying the 4 debt, or getting fome other fecurity. Give not fleep to 5 thine eyes, nor flumber to thine eyelids. Deliver thyfelf as a roe from the hand [of the hunter,] and as a bird from the hand of the fowler, for thou mayeft be arrefted and ruined, when thou dost not expect it.

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Go to the ant, thou fluggard; confider her ways, 7 and be wife: Which having no guide to direct it, overseer 8 to enact law, or ruler to punish idleness, Provideth her meat in the summer, [and] gathereth her food in the harveft, and lays it up fecure against winter. Thou haft nobler capacities, and much greater bufinefs to do, than the 9 ants, therefore How long wilt thou fleep, O fluggard? 10 when wilt thou arife out of thy fleep? faying, [Yet] a little fleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to fleep; wanting to indulge thyself a little more, and yet a little more, unwilling to rife and apply thyself to thy proper 11 business: So fhall thy poverty come as one that travelleth step by step, fo that thou canst scarce perceive him move, and thy want, when it arrives, will feize thee as an armed man, against whom thou canst make no refiftance.

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12 A naughty perfon, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth; maintains himself by lies, flattery, and 13 Лlander. He winketh with his eyes, he fpeaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; he has private figns to inftruct his accomplices how they are to play their 14 part; Frowardness [is] in his heart, he deviseth mif

chief continually; he foweth difcord in families and na15 tions, hoping to find his account in it. Therefore shall his calamity come fuddenly; fuddenly shall he be broken without remedy.

16 These fix [things] doth the LORD hate: yea, feven 17 [are] an abomination unto him: A proud look, a 18 lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An

heart that devifeth wicked imaginations, to gratify his appetites, his covetousness, or revenge, feet that be swift 19 in running to mischief, A falfe witnefs in judgment

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[that] fpeaketh lies, that is, perjures himself, and him that foweth discord among brethren; between near relations, where there ought to be mutual affection.

My fon, keep thy father's commandment, and for21 fake not the law of thy mother: Bind them continually upon thine heart, [and] tie them about thy neck; fix them on thy mind, keep them continually before thine eyes, 22 and thou wilt find conftant benefit by it. When thou goest, it fhall lead thee; when thou fleepest, it fhall keep thee; and [when] thou awakeft, it shall talk with thee; true religion will be a guide, a guard, and a pleasant companion, and fuggeft proper and comfortable meditations to thee in the 23 night. For the commandment [is] a lamp; and the law [is] light; and reproofs of inftruction [are] the way of life; they will direct thee in every circumftance of 24 life: and will be particularly of ufe To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a ftrange woman, which a prudent education, and even moral precepts, are not always able to do.

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Luft not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids; talk not of her fmiles and 26 charms; For by means of a whorish woman [a man is brought] to a piece of bread; and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life; he not only destroys the estate, 27 but health and life itself. Can a man take fire in his

bofom, and his clothes not be burned? at least blacken28 ed, which a wife man would not choofe. Can one go upon 29 hot coals, and his feet not be burned? So he that goeth

in to his neighbour's wife; whofoever toucheth her shall not be innocent; it will bring guilt, fhame, and for30 row upon him. [Men] do not despise a thief, if he steal to fatisfy his foul when he is hungry; he is not reckoned fo infamous, nor do men rigorously punish him, but rather 31 pity and forgive him: But [if] he be found, he shall reftore fevenfold, that is, many fold, he fhall give all the fubftance of his houfe rather than be expofed to publick 32 profecution. [But] whofo committeth adultery with a

woman lacketh understanding: he [that] doeth it de33 ftroyeth his own foul. A wound and difhonour fhall he get; and his reproach fhall not be wiped away;

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adultery

adultery is much more infamous than theft; it is an everlasting brand of difgrace, befides the fatal confequences which 34 attend the jealousy of the husband. For jealoufy [is] the rage of a man: therefore he will not fpare in the day of 35 vengeance. He will not regard any ransom; neither will he reft content, though thou giveft many gifts; he will profecute the adulterer even unto death, (as by the law of Mofes he might) and no pecuniary recompenfe will fatisfy

him.

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REFLECTIO N.

E may observe, that this chapter contains abundance of excellent cautions to young people, against the errors into which they are prone to fall. Let them avoid entering into bonds and promises for others. In some cases it may be an act of juftice, or charity; but perfons fhould be cautious who they engage for; and not engage for more than they are willing to pay, and can pay without injury to their families. But prudence will generally require young people to avoid fuch engagements. Idlenefs is another temptation to which they are expofed, and the want of forecast and frugality. Being provided for by their parents, they are apt to be extravagant; forgetting that the time of youth and ftrength, is the time to make provifion for families, for ficknefs, and old age. But they are moft in danger from fleshly lufts. They are ready to imagine that they are fecure from grofs acts of vice; but are often led into them before they are aware. They think they may keep company, at least stay a while with men and women of vicious characters, without danger; but this is as ridiculous and abfurd, as it would be for a man to put fire into his bosom, or go upon hot coals, v. 27, 28. When once men have brought themfelves into ftraits by idlenefs, extravagance, or impurity, then they are tempted to lying, doing mifchief, fowing difcord, perjury, and all thofe things that the Lord hates. Now to prevent all these, the grand direction is to be ruled by the law of God; the ftudy of it and meditation upon it, are at once the best fecurity againft vice and a fource of the nobleft pleasures. Such remarks as thefe cannot be clofed without lamenting

over this wicked land of ours. Inftead of pitying, and dealing gently with a thief, he is tranfported, or hanged; while adulterers and adultereffes, whom the law of God commands to be furely put to death, are not only spared, and go unpunished, but are scarce reckoned infamous; are put on the fame level, in places of publick refort, with the chafte and virtuous; yea, if the truth is reported, in many of our gay affemblies, are treated more refpectfully than they. Such is our politeness, wisdom, and piety! It is time, O Lord, for thee to work, for men make void thy law.

CHAP. VII.

Solomon here renews his cautions to all, especially to his young readers, againft fleshly lufts, with regard to which they need line upon line.

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MY

Y fon, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee, as thy beft treasure. Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye, that is, with the greatest care; as if he had faid, Thou hadst better lofe thine eyes, and live in darkness, than 3 that thy mind fhould be without wisdom. Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart; have 4 them always ready for ufe. Say unto wisdom, Thou [art] my fister; and call understanding [thy] kinfwoman; grow into fuch an intimate acquaintance and friendship with them, 5 as perfons usually have with their near relations. That they may keep thee from the ftrange woman, from the ftranger [which] flattereth with her words; to comply with whofe folicitations there might be great temptations amidst the luxury of Solomon's reign. To enforce the caution he relates an account of a thoughtless young man, who was 6 feduced and ruined by a wicked woman. For at the win7 dow of my house I looked through my cafement, And

beheld among the fimple ones, I difcerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, a giddy, 8 unexperienced young fellow, Paffing through the street 9 near her corner; and he went the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark

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night; it was in the twilight that I faw it, but to him it 10 proved a black and dark night: And, behold, there met him a woman [with] the attire of an harlot, a gay, airy drefs, not used by modeft women, and fubtile of heart. 11 (She [is] loud, talks and laughs loud; a pretty fure mark of an immodeft, at least of a weak mind; and ftubborn, The will not be advised and controuled; her feet abide not in her houfe; he loves gadding abroad, and any thing but 12 family business: Now [is fhe] without, now in the 13 ftreets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) So fhe

caught him, and kiffed him, [and] with an impudent 14 face faid unto him, [I have] peace offerings with me; 15 this day have I payed my vows. Therefore came I

forth to meet thee, diligently to feek thy face, and I 16 have found thee. I have decked my bed with cover

ings of tapeftry, with carved [works,] with fine linen 17 of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, 18 and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until 19 the morning: let us folace ourselves with loves. For the good man [is] not at home; acknowledging herself to be a married woman, but making light of that; fhe does not call him her husband, but the good man, or the man of the house, whom they call my husband; he is gone a long journey, and will stay a long time, therefore there is no 20 danger of his difcovering it. He hath taken a bag

of money with him, [and] will come home at the 21 day appointed. With her much fair fpeech fhe caufed him to yield; with the flattering of her lips she forced him, notwithstanding fome reluctance from his own 22 confcience. He goeth after her ftraightway, as an ox goeth to the flaughter, or as a fool to the correction of 23 the ftocks; Till a dart ftrike through his liver; as a

bird hafteth to the fnare, and knoweth not that it [is] 24 for his life. Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye child

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forms of religion. perftood by this verfe, that he kept up fome

It is generally as part of the peace offerings were to be eaten at home, it may only intimate, that he had a great deal of good provifions in her house.

What we render, as a fool to the correction of the flocks, a learned critic would render, as the deer Skippeth into the toil, which

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