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'BEAUTIES OF THE BIBLE.

Part II.

Selections from the Bible.

CHAPTER I.

SOLOMON'S DESCRIPTION OF A VIRTUOUS

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WOMAN.

HO can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth fafely truft in her; and the will do him good, and not evil, all the days of her life.

2....She feeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands: fhe rifeth alfo while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her

maidens.

3....She confidereth a field and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands fhe planteth a vineyard. She perceiv eth that her merchandize is good: her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the fpindle, and her hands hold the diftaff.

4....She is not afraid of the fnow for her household; for all her household are clothed with fcarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is filk and purple. She maketh fine linen, and felleth it, and delivereth girdles unto the merchants.

5....She looketh well to the ways of her household/ and eateth not the bread of idleness. Strength and hon

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or are her clothing, and the fhall rejoice in time to

come.

6....She stretcheth out her hands to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

7....Her husband is known in the gates, when he fitteth among the elders of the land. Her children arife up, and call her bleffed: her hufband alfo praifeth her.

8....Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman who feareth the Lord, the fhall be praifed. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praife her in the gates.

REMARK.

The foregoing is an ancient picture of a fine lady, drawn by a moft celebrated artift, and proper to be hung up, in a gilt frame, in every family-hall, or parlour, in the United States.

CHAPTER II.

THE LOVELINESS OF VIRTUE EXEMPLI FIED IN THE CHARACTER OF JOB.

...JOB

OB continued his difcourfe and faid, O that I were as in months paft, as in the days when God preferved me as I was in the days of my youth, when my children were about me! The young men saw me and were abafhed; and the aged arofe, and ftood up the princes retrained talking; the nobles held their peace.

2....Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept

fidence at my counfel. After my words they (pake not again; my fpeech dropped upon them, and they waited for me as for the rain. When the ear heard me, then it bleffed me and when the eye faw me, it gave witness to me; because I delivered the poor, who cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help.

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3....The bleffing of him that was ready to perish came upon me and I caufed the widow's heart to fing for joy. I put on righteounefs, and it clothed me; my judgement was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor and the cause which I knew not I fearch

ed out.

4....Doth not God fee my ways, and count all my steps? Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity. If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hafted to deceit; if my flep bath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to my hands, then let me fow and let another eat.

5....If I did defpife the caufe of my man fervant, or of my maid fervant, when they contended with me ; what then fhall I do when God rifeth up? And when he vifiteth, what fhall I andwer him? Did not he who made me, make him? And did not one fashion us both?

6....If I have withheld the poor from their defire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail: or have eaten my morfel myself alone, and the father els hath not exten thereof (for from my youth he was brought up with me ;) if I have seen any perifh for want of cloth. ing, or the poor without covering; if his loins have not bleffed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my theep; or, if I have lifted up mine hand agant the fatherless; then let mine arm fall from my fhoulder-blade, and be broken from the bone.

7....If I have made gold my hope, or faid to the moft fine gold, Thou art my confidence; it I proudly exulted because my wealth was great; If I rejoiced in the deftruction of him that hated me. The ftranger did not lodge in the street, but I opened my door to the traveller. If my land cry aganft me, that I have eaten the fruits without money, or have caufed the owners thereof to lose their life: let thiftles grow instead of wheat, and cockle inftead of barley.

REMARKS.

Who can read thefe lines, and not exclaim, "O virtue, how lovely is thy image !" Such an excellent charafter as this of Job, is better than all the treasures in the world. Courage, ftrength, wit, beauty,and wealth, what are they, when weighed in the balance, against folid virtue? What are they but vanity ?

Youth, who wish to attain true honor, are invited to to imitate the virtues of this excellent man, and to Arive to be eminently good. A good name is as precious ointment and the righteous fhall be had in everlasting remembrance.

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CHAPTER III.

THE IDOL MAKER.

THEY, who make a graven image, are

all of them vanity; and their delectable things fhall not profit: they fee not, nor know, that they may be afkamcd. Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his fel lows fhall be afhamed; and the workmen they are of men let them all be gathered together, let them fland up; that they may be afhamed together.

e....The fmith with the tongs both worketh in the

coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the ftrength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his ftrength faileth; he drinketh no water, and is faint.

3....The carpenter ftretcheth out his rule, he marketh it out with a line, he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with a compass,and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house. He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he ftrengheneth from the trees of the foreft.

4...He planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. Then fhall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh a graven image, and falleth down thereto.

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5....He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh he roafteth roast and is fatisfied; yea, he warmeth himself, and faith, Aha, I am warm, have feen the fire; and the refidue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and faith, Deliver me; for thou art my God.

6....They have not known nor understood and none confidereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to fay, I have burnt part of it in the fire; yea alfo, I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it; and fhall I make the refidue thereof an abomination? Shall I fall down to the flock of a tree?

REMARKS.

This is a keenly fatyrical reprefentation of the extreme folly of idolaters, who worshiped a flock, or image, which they themselves had made.

There are, in the fcriptures, but few inftances of

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