I have no pleasure in them.
Or ever the sun, and the light,
And the moon and the stars,
Be darkened
And the clouds return after the rain.

In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble,
And the strong men shall bow themselves,
And the grinders cease because they are few,
And those that look out of the windows be darkened,
And the doors be shut in the street.
When the sound of the grinding is low,
And one shall rise up at the voice of a bird,
And all the daughters of music shall be brought low:
Yea, they shall be afraid of that which is high,
And terror shall be in the way;
And the almond tree shall blossom,
And the grasshopper shall be a burden,
And desire shall fail:
Because man goeth to his long home.
And the mourners go about the streets: {246}
Or ever the silver cord be loosed,
Or the golden bowl broken,
Or the pitcher broken at the fountain
Or the wheel broken at the cistern:
And the dust return to the earth, as it was;
And the spirit return unto God who gave it.

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SELECTIONS FROM THE PROVERBS

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PROVERBS

Proverbs is a collection of sayings of wise men, coming from many
sources and gathered by many men. It is a little library of smaller
books. The poetry is more uniform than any other in the Bible. The
subjects, on the contrary, are the most various. All sides of life are
represented. But chiefly the proverbs are concerned with showing the
wisdom of living a good, honest, industrious life, and the foolishness
of being lazy, immoral, greedy for money, and evil in thought and
conduct. A great deal is said about the fool. He is the one who is
shortsighted and careless of consequences; who talks slander and so
hurts his friends; who forgets that the laws of God punish evil doing,
and so hurts himself. The idea is that the wicked man acts as though
he had not common sense.

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THE PRAISES OF WISDOM

WISDOM CRIETH ALOUD IN THE STREET

Wisdom crieth aloud in the street;
She uttereth her voice in the broad places;
She crieth in the chief place of meeting;
At the entering in of the gates,
In the city, she uttereth her words:

"How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?
And scorners delight in scorning,
And fools hate knowledge?
Turn you at my reproof:
Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you,
I will make known my words unto you.
Because I have called, and ye refused;
I h