Part 442 (1/2)

15:18. Before man is life and death, good and evil, that which he shall choose shall be given him:

15:19. For the wisdom of G.o.d is great, and he is strong in power, seeing all men without ceasing.

15:20. The eyes of the Lord are towards them that fear him, and he knoweth al the work of man.

15:21. He hath commanded no man to do wickedly, and he hath given no man license to sin;

15:22. For he desireth not a mult.i.tude of faithless and unprofitable children.

Ecclesiasticus Chapter 16

It is better to have none than many wicked children. Of the justice and mercy of G.o.d. His ways are unsearchable.

16:1. Rejoice not in unG.o.dly children, if they be multiplied: neither be delighted in them, if the fear of G.o.d be not with them.

16:2. Trust not to their life, and respect not their labours.

16:3. For better is one that feareth G.o.d, than a thousand unG.o.dly children.

16:4. And it is better to die without children, than to leave unG.o.dly children.

16:5. By one that is wise a country shall be inhabited, the tribe of the unG.o.dly shall become desolate.

16:6. Many such things hath my eyes seen, and greater things than these my ear hath heard.

16:7. In the congregation of sinners a fire shall be kindled, and in an unbelieving nation wrath shall flame out.

16:8. The ancient giants did not obtain pardon for their sins, who were destroyed trusting to their own strength:

16:9. And he spared not the place where Lot sojourned, but abhorred them for the pride of their word.

16:10. He had not pity on them, destroying the whole nation that extolled themselves in their sins.

16:11. So did he with the six hundred thousand footmen, who were gathered together in the hardness of their heart: and if one had been stiffnecked, it is a wonder if he had escaped unpunished:

Six hundred thousand footmen, etc... Viz., the children of Israel, whom he sentenced to die in the wilderness. Num. 14.

16:12. For mercy and wrath are with him. He is mighty to forgive, and to pour out indignation:

16:13. According as his mercy is, so his correction judgeth a man according to his works.

16:14. The sinner shall not escape in his rapines, and the patience of him that sheweth mercy shall not be put off.

16:15. All mercy shall make a place for every man according to the merit of his works, and according to the wisdom of his sojournment.

16:16. Say not: I shall be hidden from G.o.d, and who shall remember me from on high?

16:17. In such a mult.i.tude I shall not be known: for what is my soul in such an immense creation?

16:18. Behold the heaven, and the heavens of heavens, the deep, and all the earth, and the things that are in them, shall be moved in his sight,