Of three things my heart was afraid; and concerning the fourth kind I made supplication: the slander of a city, and the assembly of a multitude, and a false accusation: all these are more grievous than death. A grief of heart and sorrow is a woman that is jealous of another woman, and the scourge of a tongue communicating to all. A wicked woman is as a yoke of oxen shaken to and fro: he that taketh hold of her is as one that graspeth a scorpion. A drunken woman causeth great wrath; and she will not cover her own shame. The whoredom of a woman is in the lifting up of her eyes; and it shall be known by her eyelids. Keep strict watch on a headstrong daughter, lest she find liberty for herself, and use it. Look well after an impudent eye; and marvel not if it trespass against thee. She will open her mouth, as a thirsty traveller, and drink of every water that is near: at every post will she sit down, and open her quiver against any arrow. * * * * * The grace of a wife will delight her husband; and her knowledge will fatten his bones. A silent woman is a gift of the Lord; and there is nothing so much worth as a well-instructed soul. A shamefast woman is grace upon grace; and there is no price worthy of a continent soul. As the sun when it ariseth in the highest places of the Lord, so is the beauty of a good wife in the ordering of a man’s house. As the lamp that shineth upon the holy candlestick, so is the beauty of the face in ripe age. As the golden pillars are upon a base of silver, so are beautiful feet with the breasts of one that is stedfast. * * * * * For two things my heart is grieved; and for the third anger cometh upon me: a man of war that suffereth for poverty; and men of understanding that are counted as refuse: one that turneth back from righteousness to sin; the Lord shall prepare him for the sword. A merchant shall hardly keep himself from wrong doing; and a huckster shall not be acquitted of sin. =27= Many have sinned for a thing indifferent; and he that seeketh to multiply gain will turn his eye away. A nail will stick fast between the joinings of stones; and sin will thrust itself in between buying and selling. Unless a man hold on diligently in the fear of the Lord, his house shall soon be overthrown. * * * * * In the shaking of a sieve, the refuse remaineth; so the filth of man in his reasoning. The furnace will prove the potter’s vessels; and the trial of a man is in his reasoning. The fruit of a tree declareth the husbandry thereof; so is the utterance of the thought of the heart of a man. Praise no man before thou hearest him reason; for this is the trial of men. * * * * * If thou followest righteousness, thou shalt obtain her, and put her on, as a long robe of glory. Birds will resort unto their like; and truth will return unto them that practise her.