Chapter 42

42. Of these things be not ashamed, and accept no person to sin thereby: Of the law of the most High, and his covenant; and of judgment to justify the ungodly, of reckoning with your partners and travellers; or of the gift of the inheritance of friends, of exactness of balance and weights; or of getting much or little, and of the fault of unjust selling, and of the correction of children; and of making a rod for the fool, for there are things which shame brings sin, and there are things which bring glory and grace. Accept no person against your soul, and suffer not your mouth to lie, for be ashamed of fornication before father and mother, and of a lie before a prince and a mighty man, of an offence before a judge and ruler, of iniquity before a congregation and people, of unrighteous dealing before a partner and friend, and of theft in regard of the place where you live, and in regard of the truth of God and the covenant. A wise daughter is a treasure, and her price is above rubies, but a shamefast daughter is a flower, and a shameless daughter is a grief of heart, and her shame shall not be covered, for a wicked woman abases her husband, and makes him to be despised. The father watches for the daughter when she is young, and he is afraid of her, lest she should be too liberal of her favours, and when she is older, he is afraid of her, lest she should not be married, or be defiled, or lest she should be forsaken, and when she is married, he is afraid of her, lest she should be too liberal of her favours, and when she is older, he is afraid of her, lest she should not be married. Set a sure guard over a shameless daughter, lest she make thee a laughingstock to your enemies, and a byword in the city, and a reproach among the people, and make thee ashamed before all the multitude. Attend not to all beauty, and sit not in the midst of women, for from garments comes a moth, and from women comes wickedness, for better is the churlishness of a man than a courteous woman, a woman, I say, that brings shame and reproach. I will now remember the works of the Lord, and declare the things that I have seen, for in his words are his works, and the sun that shines upon all things shall not be ashamed of his glory. The Lord has made all things very good, and he will give every needful thing in due season, for the Lord is the one, and there is no other, and he is a wise one, and has no other. The Lord created the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the clouds, and the rain, and the wind, and the fire, and the water, and the earth, and the sea, and all the wickedness, and all the trouble, and all the affliction, and all the distress, and all the weariness, and all the unrighteousness. All the works of the Lord are good, and he will give every needful thing in due season, and a man may not say, This is worse than that, for in time they shall all be well approved. The works of the Lord are full of his glory, and he that is without understanding will not be satisfied, for every one is full of the glory of the Lord.