Chapter 2

1But if you are rich and have no need of a craft or the labor of your hands by which to earn your bread and livelihood, do not be slothful or sit idle. Go to the faithful and sit with those who are united with you in faith. Speak with one another about the word of life, read what is in the Book of Kings and the Prophets, sing a psalm of praise, and listen to the word of the Gospel, which is the fulfillment of the whole law. Keep far from all service rendered to the gods of the Gentiles. Pay no attention to words of vanity that bring no benefit, and seek neither another law nor false prophets who change and corrupt the faith.

2What, then, are you unable to find in the law of God that you should seek the learning of the Gentiles? If you desire to know the power of the interpretation of the Scriptures, seek out the Book of Kings. If you wish to discover the power and teaching of the wise, you have the prophets, Job, and Solomon. They are full of wisdom, and in them you shall find knowledge. More than all other teachers, they shall cause understanding to increase, for their word is the voice of the Lord God, who alone is all-wise. If you desire a song, you have the Psalms of David. If you desire to understand the creation of the world and the generations of the first fathers, you have the Law. If you desire to know wisdom and doctrine, you have the book of the law, which is full of the glory of the Lord God.

3Keep far, then, from evil works, from the doctrine of Satan, and from the word of vanity that is not in the law. Read what is in Deuteronomy so that you may understand and know the glory of God, who has saved you from the many snares of Satan. For the Savior came not to destroy the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them, to loose the bonds that are in Deuteronomy, and to bring people to spiritual teaching. Therefore he calls us, saying, “Come to me, all you who are troubled and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.”

4When you have read the Law, the Prophets, the Books of the Kings, and the Gospel, you shall understand how many righteous people reigned and pleased God by their lives and for this reason found eternal life. You shall also know how many evil kings transgressed through lack of understanding. They perished and were destroyed by the stroke of God’s judgment, and they lost eternal life. Knowing this, you shall be strong in the right faith and shall find grace and favor with our Lord Jesus Christ, for you are one of his members.

5Moreover, when you wish to bathe, do not enter the bath where women bathe, lest they see the beauty of your youth and the attractiveness of your flesh and stumble because of you, or lest you yourself sin and fall because of them.

6My children, let us hear and understand the word of the Holy One, which says, “Keep my commandment. Say to wisdom, ‘You are my sister,’ and make knowledge your friend, so that she may keep you from the strange and evil woman, even if that woman brings you alluring words. From the window of her house she looks down upon the streets. If she sees one of the foolish children, a youth who lacks knowledge, walking among the corners of the roads by her house and talking in the darkness of evening, when the stillness and darkness of night come on, then the woman encounters him, wearing the adornments of adultery that excite the hearts of youths. She is flighty and wanton, and her feet do not remain in her house. For a short time she wanders outside, and for a time she is in the streets; at every corner she lies in wait. She seized him and kissed him, and with a shameless face she said to him, ‘I have a peace offering; today I pay my vow. Therefore I came out to meet you. Desiring to see your face, I have found you. I have spread my bed with fine linen and laid down carpets from Egypt. I have sprinkled my bed with saffron and my house with cinnamon. Come, let us enjoy ourselves with kisses until morning, and let us revel in love. For my husband is not in my house. He has gone on a distant journey, taking a bag of gold in his hand; he will return to his house only after many days.’ She led him astray with many words and drew him on with the snare of her lips, and he followed her in the wicked blindness of his heart.”

7Furthermore, it is said, “Do not look upon an evil woman, for honey flows from the lips of an adulterous woman. For a time it is sweet to your throat, but afterward you shall find it more bitter than gall and far sharper than a two-edged sword.” Again it is said, “Keep your way far from her, and do not draw near the door of her house, lest you give your life to others and your livelihood to those who are without mercy; lest strangers be filled with your strength and your labor pass to the house of another. Afterward you shall repent, when your flesh and your body are weakened, and you shall say, ‘How I have hated instruction! My ears have turned away from reproof. I have not listened to the voice of those who gave me commandments, who admonished and taught me, nor have I made my ear attentive. I have come near to every evil.’”

8Now I also say to you: choose all the good things written in the Holy Scriptures, so that we may not neglect these witnesses and turn aside to a multitude of words, but may be strong in faith and in doing good. Let us keep far from every evil deed and be pure from all evil uncleanness before God, so that we may find eternal life.