5 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

² That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

³ For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

⁴ But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵ Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

⁶ Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

⁷ Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

⁸ Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

⁹ Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

¹⁰ Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

¹¹ And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

¹² And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

¹³ And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

¹⁴ I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

⁹ Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.

¹⁰ For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour.

¹¹ But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the Lord of hosts.

¹² For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.

¹³ And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.

¹⁴ For thus saith the Lord of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, and I repented not:

¹⁵ So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.

¹⁶ These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:

¹⁷ And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord.

¹⁸ And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying,

¹⁹ Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.

²⁰ Thus saith the Lord of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities:

²¹ And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also.

²² Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.

²³ Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

¹³ Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;

¹⁴ Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

¹⁵ For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

¹⁶ As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.

¹⁷ Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

¹⁸ Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.

¹⁹ For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.

²⁰ For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

²¹ For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

²² Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: