Things That Do Not Warrant Shame

¹Don’t sin to maintain your dignity,

and don’t be ashamed of any of the following:

²of the law of the Most High and of his covenant;

of rendering judgment that acquits the ungodly;

³of sharing expenses with partners and fellow travelers;

of dividing a friend’s inheritance;

⁴of using accurate scales and weights;

of gaining much or little profit;

⁵of making profit from trade;

of frequently disciplining your children;

and of lashing a wicked slave until he bleeds.

⁶Bolting the door is wise when you have an untrustworthy wife.

Where there are many hands, lock everything up.

⁷Keep careful records of your deposits,

and put in writing any donations you give or receive.

⁸Do not be ashamed to correct the ignorant and foolish

or the aged who are found guilty before the young.

Then you will show that you are well instructed,

and you will gain everyone’s approval.

Regarding Daughters

⁹A daughter causes her father unspoken anxiety,

and worry over her robs him of sleep.

When she is young, he worries that she may not find a husband.

When she is married, he worries that her husband may be displeased with her.

¹⁰While she is a virgin, her father worries that she may be seduced

and become pregnant while living in his house.

When she has a husband, her father worries that she may be unfaithful

or, though she is married, that she may be childless.

¹¹Keep strict watch over a headstrong daughter,

or else she might make you a laughingstock to your enemies.

You would become the talk of the town and a reproach among the people,

and she would make you ashamed to appear in public.

¹²Don’t let her display her beauty to any man,

and don’t let her socialize with married women.

¹³For as from clothes comes the moth,

so from a woman comes a woman’s wickedness.

¹⁴The wickedness of a man is better than the goodness of a woman.

A woman brings shame and disgrace.

The Works of the Lord

¹⁵I will now recall the works of the Lord

and declare what I have seen.

His works were made by the word of the Lord.

¹⁶The sun shines down on all things,

and the work of the Lord is full of his glory.

¹⁷Not even the holy ones were empowered by the Lord

to declare all his wonderful works.

The Lord Almighty has established these works

so that the universe may stand firm in his glory.

¹⁸He searches out the watery depths and the human heart,

and he understands their innermost secrets.

For the Most High knows all that there is to know.

He perceives the signs of the times.

¹⁹He discloses the past and the future

and reveals the traces of hidden things.

²⁰No thought escapes his notice,

and nothing is hidden from him.

²¹He has set in order the glorious works of his wisdom,

and he is the same for all eternity.

Nothing can be added to him or subtracted from him,

and he has no need of any counselor.

²²How desirable are all the Lord’s works,

and even the smallest spark deserves attention.

²³All these things live and remain forever,

and they obey him regarding every need.

²⁴All things come in pairs, one opposite the other,

and he has made nothing incomplete.

²⁵Each adds to the good things of another.

Who could ever see enough of his glory?