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10 He hath commanded no man to do wickedly, neither hath he given any man license to sin.

11 Where a man sinneth, by the same also shall he be punished: for the empty are empty things, and for the full are the full things.

12 Now therefore why disquietest thou thyself, seeing thou art but a corruptible man? and why art thou moved, whereas thou art but mortal?

13 Why hast thou not considered in thy mind this thing that is to come, rather than that which is present ?

14 Then answered I and said, O Lord, that bearest rule, thou hast ordained in thy law, that the righteous should inherit these things, but that the ungodly should perish.

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15 Nevertheless the righteous shall suffer strait things, and hope for wide for they that have done wickedly have suffered the strait things and yet shall not see the wide.

16 And he said unto me, There is no judge above God, and none that hath understand'ng above the Highest.

17 For there be many that perish in this life, because they despise the law of God that is set before them.

18 For God hath given strait commandment to such as came, what they should do to live, even as they came, and what they should observe to avoid punishment.

19 Nevertheless they were not obedient unto him; but

spake against him and imagined vain things;

20 And deceived themselves by their wicked deeds; and said of the Most High, that he is not; and knew not his ways:

21 But his law have they despised, and denied his covenant; in his statutes have they not been faithful, and have not performed his works.

LESSON XX.

SEEK not death in the error of your life: and pull not upon yourselves destruction with the works of your hands.

2 For God made not death: neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living.

3 For he created all things, that they might have their being

and the generations of the world were healthful; and there is no poison of destruction in them, nor the kingdom of death upon the earth :

4 (For righteousness is immortal:)

5 But ungodly men with their works and words called it to them: for when they thought to have it their friend, they consumed to naught, and made a covenant with it, because they are worthy to take part with it.

6 For the ungodly said, reasoning with themselves, but not aright, Our life is short and tedious, and in the death of a man there is no remedy: neither was there any man known to have returned from the grave.

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8 Which being extinguished, our body shall be turned into ashes, and our spirit shall

vanish as the soft air:

9 And our name shall be forgotten in time, and no man shall have our works in remembrance, and our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud, and shall be dispersed as a mist that is driven away with the beams of the sun, and overcome with the heat thereof.

10 For our time is a very shadow that passeth away; and after our end there is no returning for it is fast sealed, so that no man cometh again.

11 Come on therefore, let us enjoy the good things that are present: and let us speedily use the creatures like as in youth.

12 Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments: and let no flower of the spring pass by us :

13 Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds, before they be withered :

14 Let none of us go without his part of our voluptuousness: let us leave tokens of our joyfulness in every place: for this is our portion, and our lot is this.

15 Let us oppress the poor righteous man, let us not spare the widow, nor reverence the ancient gray hairs of the aged.

16 Let our strength be the law of justice; for that which is feeble is found to be nothing worth.

17 Therefore let us lie in wait for the righteous; because he is not for our turn, and he is clean contrary to our doings: he upbraideth us with offending the law, and objecteth to our infamy the transgressings of our education.

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18 He professeth to have the knowledge of God: and he calleth himself the child of the Lord.

19 He was made to reprove our thoughts.

20 He is grievous unto us even to behold; for his life is not like other men's, his ways are of another fashion.

21 We are esteemed of him as counterfeits: he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness: he pronounceth the end of the just to be blessed, and maketh his boast that God is his father.

22 Let us see if his words be true: and let us prove what shall happen in the end of him.

23 For if the just man be the son of God, he will help him, and deliver him from the hand of his enemies.

24 Let us examine him with despitefulness and torture, that we may know his meekness, and prove his patience.

25 Let us condemn him with a shameful death: for by his own saying he shall be respected. 26 Such things they did imagine, and were deceived:

for their own wickedness hath saints, and he hath care for his blinded them. elect.

27 As for the mysteries of God, they knew them not: neither hoped they for the wages of righteousness, nor discerned a reward for blameless souls.

28 For God created man to be immortal, and made him to be an image of his own eternity.

LESSON XXI.

THE Souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them.

2 In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery,

3 And their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace.

4 For though they be punished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality.

5 And having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded: for God proved them, and found them worthy for himself.

6 As gold in the furnace hath he tried them, and received them as a burnt offering.

7 And in the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stubble.

8 They shall judge the nations, and have dominion over the people, and their Lord shall reign for ever.

9 They that put their trust in him shall understand the truth: and such as be faithful in love shall abide with him: for grace and mercy is to his

10 But the ungodly shall be punished according to their own imaginations, which have neglected the righteous, and forsaken the Lord.

11 For whoso despiseth wisdom and nurture, he is miserable; and their hope is vain, their labours unfruitful, and their works unprofitable :

12 For the hope of the unthankful shall melt away as the winter's hoar frost, and shall run away as unprofitable water.

13 But though the righteous be prevented with death, yet shall he be in rest.

14 For honourable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years.

15 But wisdom is gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age.

16 The righteous was speedily taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul.

17 He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time :

18 For his soul pleased the Lord therefore hasted he to the

take him away from among

wicked.

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is dead shall condemn the ungodly which are living; and youth that is soon perfected, the many years and old age of the unrighteous.

21 For they shall see the end of the wise, and shall not understand what God in his counsel hath decreed of him, and to what end the Lord hath set him in safety.

22 They shall see him, and despise him; but God shall laugh them to scorn: and they shall hereafter be a vile carcase, and a reproach among the dead for evermore.

23 For he shall rend them, and cast them down headlong, that they shall be speechless; and he shall shake them from the foundation; and they shall be utterly laid waste, and be in sorrow; and their memorial shall perish.

24 And when they cast up the accounts of their sins, they shall come with fear: and their own iniquities shall convince them to their face.

LESSON XXII.

THEN shall the righteous man stand in great boldness before the face of such as have afflicted him, and made no account of his labours.

2 When they see it, they shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the strangeness of his salvation, so far beyond all that they looked for.

3 And they, repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit,

shall say within themselves, This was he, whom we had sometimes in derision, and a proverb of reproach.

4 We fools accounted his life madness, and his end to be without honour.

5 How is he numbered among the children of God, and his lot is among the saints!

6 Therefore have we erred from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness hath not shined unto us, and the sun of righteousness rose not upon us.

7 We wearied ourselves in the way of wickedness and destruction: yea, we have gone through deserts, where there lay no way: but as for the way of the Lord, we have not known it.

8 What hath pride profited us? or what good hath riches with our vaunting brought us?

9 All those things are passed away like a shadow, and as a post that hasted by ;

10 And as a ship that passeth over the waves of the water, which when it is gone by, the trace thereof cannot be found, neither the pathway of the keel in the waves;

11 Or as when a bird hath flown through the air, there is no token of her way to be found, but the light air being beaten with the stroke of her wings, and parted with the violent noise and motion of them, is passed through, and therein afterwards no sign where she went is to be found:

12 Or like as when an arrow is shot at a mark, it parteth the

air, which immediately cometh together again, so that a man cannot know where it went through:

13 Even so we, in like manner, as soon as we were born, began to draw to our end, and had no sign of virtue to shew; but were consumed in our own wickedness.

14 For the hope of the ungodly is like dust that is blown away with the wind; like a thin froth that is driven away with the storm; like as the smoke which is dispersed here and there with a tempest, and passeth away as the remembrance of a guest that tarrieth but a day.

15 But the righteous live for evermore; their reward also is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the Most High.

16 Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the Lord's hand for with his right hand shall he cover them, and with his arm shall he protect them.

17 He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate, and true judgement instead of an helmet.

18 He shall take holiness for an invincible shield.

19 His severe wrath shall he sharpen for a sword, and the world shall fight with him against the unwise.

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20 Then shall the right-aiming thunderbolts go abroad and from the clouds, as from a well drawn bow, shall they fly to the mark.

21 And hailstones full of wrath shall be cast as out of a stone bow, and the water of the sea shall rage against them, and the floods shall cruelly drown them.

22 Yea, a mighty wind shall stand up against them, and like a storm shall blow them away: thus iniquity shall lay waste the whole earth, and ill dealing shall overthrow the thrones of the mighty.

SECTION X.-Duty to Parents.

LESSON XXIII.

HEAR me your father, O children, and do thereafter, that ye may be safe.

2 For the Lord hath given the father honour over the children, and hath confirmed the authority of the mother over the sons.

3 Whoso honoureth his father maketh an atonement for his sins:

4 And he that honoureth his mother is as one that layeth up treasure.

5 Whoso honoureth his father shall have joy of his own children; and when he maketh his prayer, he shall be heard.

6 He that honoureth his father shall have a long life; and he that is obedient unto the Lord shall be a comfort to his mother.

7 He that feareth the Lord

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