1 My son, if you come to serve the Lord,

Prepare your soul for temptation.

2 Set your heart aright, and constantly endure,

And make not haste in time of calamity.

3 Cleave to him, and depart not,

That you may be increased at your latter end.

4 Accept whatever is brought upon you,

And be longsuffering * Gr. in the changes of your humiliation. when you passest into humiliation.

5 For gold is tried in the fire,

And acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation.

6 Put your trust in him, and he will help you:

Order your ways aright, and set your hope on him.

7 You⌃ that fear the Lord, wait for his mercy;

And turn not aside, lest you⌃ fall.

8 You⌃ that fear the Lord, put your trust in him;

And your reward shall not fail.

9 You⌃ that fear the Lord, hope for good things,

And for eternal gladness and mercy.

10 Look at the generations of old, and see:

Who did ever put his trust in the Lord, and was ashamed?

Or who did abide in his fear, and was forsaken?

Or who did call upon him, and he despised him?

11 For the Lord is full of compassion and mercy;

And he forgives sins, and saves in time of affliction.

12 Woe to fearful hearts, and to faint hands,

And to the sinner that goes two ways!

13 Woe to the faint heart! for it believes not;

Therefore shall it not be defended.

14 Woe to you that have lost your patience!

And what will you⌃ do when the Lord shall visit you?

15 They that fear the Lord will not disobey his words;

And they that love him will keep his ways.

16 They that fear the Lord will seek his good pleasure;

And they that love him shall be filled with the law.

17 They that fear the Lord will prepare their hearts,

And will humble their souls in his sight,

18  saying,

We will fall into the hands of the Lord,

And not into the hands of men:

For as his majesty is,

So also is his mercy.