Proverbs of Solomon - Ferrar Fenton Bible Translation page 787
The Psalms, Solomon and Sacred Writers
6--20 ·
PROVERBS.
’7~·—14
®n Qfilinl @uig anh imnruingz against @zhn11cl;cx·g.
‘ My son! guard your fathcr’s command s.
And your mothefs rules do not reject;
Continually wrap round your heart,
And make them the scarf of your neck.
They will be in your course as a guido,
And watch you when lying asleep,
And converse with you when you awake.
His command is a lamp, and her rules are a light,
And reproofs to instruct in the pathway of life,
To guard you from women defrled ;
From the strangers with flattering tongues.
‘ In your heart never longrfor their charms,
And be not eusnared by their smiles.--
A whore brings to a rnorsel of bread ;
The adulteress hunts the dear life!
‘Can a man put a fire in his breast,
And not be consuming his clothes?
Can a man upon burning coals walk,
And by them his feet not be scorched?
Thus who goes to the wife of his friend,
Escapes not from her without loss.
They despise not a thief if he steals,
To fail the demand of his life ;
But if found he repays sevenfold,
All he has in his house they will take.
But the coward corrupting a wife
Produces a rot to his life ;
He finds but disease and disgrace,
And his infamy cannot be hid !
For jealousy makes a man mad;
Uusparing in time of revenge,
No recompense he will regard,
No rest for the greatest of bribes !
‘ My son, give regard to my words,
Lay up with yourself my commands;
Regard my commandmer1ts,·-and live,
And my rules like the ball of your eye.
Let them girdle your fingers around,
Inscribe on the book of your heart ;
Say to Wisdom, ‘ My sister are you ’ ;
And Discernment address as your friend,
Who will guard you from women depraved;
From the stranger with slippery tongue.
‘iOnce from my house, thro’ the lattice,
At the time of the evening I looked,
And, watching, I saw in the Broadway,
With the young men a youth without sense,
Who passed thro' the street to her corner,
I-Ie stalked on the way to her house,
In the twilight, the dusk of the day,
In the gloom of the night, towards dark;
Then I saw a woman approach him,
A dressed harlot,-——and crafty of hearl:,
(Such are noisy, and cannot be quiet,
And their feet never rest in the house,
But are now in the streets,——~in the squares,
And lurking in every nook),
And she eagerly seized him and kissed,
And pouted her mouth, and addressed;
‘
I have offered my offering of thanks,
787
20
21
22
26
28
33
34
35
IO
Il
I2
