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¹ And the prophecie that the same man spake vnto Ithiel, euen vnto Ithiel and Uchal.² Surely I am more foolishe then any man, and haue no mans vnderstandyng.³ I neuer learned wisdome, nor had knowledge of holy thynges.⁴ Who hath clymed vp into heauen, and come downe from thence? who hath holden the wynde fast in his hande? who hath gathered together the waters in a garment? who hath established all the endes of the worlde: what is his name, and what is his sonnes name, yf thou canst tell?⁵ Euery worde of God is pure: he is a shielde vnto all them that put their trust in hym.⁶ Put thou nothyng vnto his wordes, lest he reproue thee, and thou be founde a lyar.

⁷ Two thinges haue I required of thee, denie me them not before I dye:⁸ Remoue farre fro me vanitie and lyes, geue me neither pouertie nor riches, only graunt me a necessary lyuyng:⁹ Lest peraduenture I beyng full, shoulde denie thee, and say, who is the Lorde? or beyng oppressed with pouertie fall to stealyng, and forswere the name of my God.

¹⁰ Accuse not a seruaunt vnto his maister, lest he speake euyll of thee, and thou be hurt.¹¹ There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not blesse their mother.¹² There is a generation that thynke them selues cleane, and yet is not cleansed from their filthinesse.¹³ There is a generation that hath a proude loke, and doth cast vp their eye lyddes.¹⁴ There is a generation whose teeth are as swordes, and their chawes as knyues, to deuour the poore from of the earth, & the needy from among men.

¹⁵ The horse leache hath two daughters crying: bryng hyther, bryng hyther. There be three thynges that are neuer satisfied, yea foure thynges sayth neuer hoe:¹⁶ The graue, the barren wombe, and the earth that hath neuer water enough: as for fire it sayth neuer hoe.¹⁷ Who so laugheth his father to scorne, and setteth his mothers commaundement at naught, the rauens of the valley picke out his eyes, and deuoured be he of the young Egles.

¹⁸ There be three thynges whiche are wonderfull to me, yea foure whiche passe my vnderstandyng:¹⁹ The way of an Egle in the ayre, the way of a serpent vpon a stone, the way of a ship in the middest of the sea, and the way of a man with a young woman:²⁰ Such is the way also of a wyfe that breaketh wedlocke, which wypeth her mouth [lyke as] when she hath eaten, and sayth, as for me I haue done no wickednesse.²¹ For three thynges the earth is disquieted, and the fourth may it not abyde.²² A seruaunt that beareth rule, a foole that is full fedde,²³ A spiteful woman when she is maried, and an handmayde that is heire to her maistresse.

²⁴ These be foure thynges in the earth the which are very litle, but in wisdome they exceede the wyse:²⁵ The emmets are [but] a weake people, which yet gather their meate in the sommer:²⁶ The conies are but a feeble folke, yet make their boroughes among the rockes:²⁷ The grashoppers haue not a guide, yet go they foorth together by heapes:²⁸ The spyder laboureth with her handes, and is in kynges palaces.

²⁹ There be three thynges that go well, yea foure are comely in goyng.³⁰ A lion whiche is strongest among beastes, and shunneth not at the syght of any:³¹ A grayhounde strong in the hynder partes, a ramme also, and a king against whom no man aryseth vp. '³² If thou hast done foolishly when thou wast in hye estate, or yf thou hast taken euyll counsayle, then lay thine hande vpon thy mouth.³³ Who so chirneth mylke bringeth foorth butter, and he that rubbeth his nose, maketh it bleede: Euen so he that forceth wrath, bringeth foorth strife.