Part 409 (2/2)

25:16. Thou hast found honey, eat what is sufficient for thee, lest being glutted therewith thou vomit it up.

25:17. Withdraw thy foot from the house of thy neighbour, lest having his fill he hate thee.

25:18. A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour, is like a dart and a sword and a sharp arrow.

25:19. To trust in an unfaithful man in the time of trouble, is like a rotten tooth, and weary foot,

25:20. And one that looseth his garment in cold weather. As vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to a very evil heart. As a moth doth by a garment, and a worm by the wood: so the sadness of a man consumeth the heart.

25:21. If thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat: if he thirst, give him water to drink:

25:22. For thou shalt heap hot coals upon his head, and the Lord will reward thee.

25:23. The north wind driveth away rain, as doth a sad countenance a backbiting tongue.

25:24. It is better to sit in a corner of the housetop: than with a brawling woman, and in a common house.

25:25. As cold water to a thirsty soul, so are good tidings from a far country.

25:26. A just man falling down before the wicked, is as a fountain troubled with the foot and a corrupted spring.

25:27. As it is not good for a man to eat much honey, so he that is a searcher of majesty shall be overwhelmed by glory.

Majesty... Viz., of G.o.d. For to search into that incomprehensible Majesty, and to pretend to sound the depths of the wisdom of G.o.d, is exposing our weak understanding to be blinded with an excess of light and glory, which it cannot comprehend.

25:28. As a city that lieth open and is not compa.s.sed with walls, so is a man that cannot refrain his own spirit in speaking.

Proverbs Chapter 26

26:1. As snow in summer, and rain in harvest, so glory is not seemly for a fool.

26:2. As a bird flying to other places, and a sparrow going here or there: so a curse uttered without cause shall come upon a man.

As a bird, etc... The meaning is, that a curse uttered without cause shall do no harm to the person that is cursed, but will return upon him that curseth, as whithersoever a bird flies, it returns to its own nest.

26:3. A whip for a horse, and a snaffle for an a.s.s, and a rod for the back of fools.

26:4. Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou be made like him.

Answer not a fool, etc... Viz., so as to imitate him but only so as to reprove his folly.

26:5. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he imagine himself to be wise.

26:6. He that sendeth words by a foolish messenger, is lame of feet and drinketh iniquity.

26:7. As a lame man hath fair legs in vain: so a parable is unseemly in the mouth of fools.

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