ey shall preserve thee.

15:17. He hath set water and fire before thee: stretch forth thy hand to
which thou wilt.

15:18. Before man is life and death, good and evil, that which he shall
choose shall be given him:

15:19. For the wisdom of God is great, and he is strong in power, seeing
all men without ceasing.

15:20. The eyes of the Lord are towards them that fear him, and he
knoweth al the work of man.

15:21. He hath commanded no man to do wickedly, and he hath given no man
license to sin;

15:22. For he desireth not a multitude of faithless and unprofitable
children.

Ecclesiasticus Chapter 16

It is better to have none than many wicked children. Of the justice and
mercy of God. His ways are unsearchable.

16:1. Rejoice not in ungodly children, if they be multiplied: neither be
delighted in them, if the fear of God be not with them.

16:2. Trust not to their life, and respect not their labours.

16:3. For better is one that feareth God, than a thousand ungodly
children.

16:4. And it is better to die without children, than to leave ungodly
children.

16:5. By one that is wise a country shall be inhabited, the tribe of the
ungodly shall become desolate.

16:6. Many such things hath my eyes seen, and greater things than these
my ear hath heard.

16:7. In the congregation of sinners a fire shall be kindled, and in an
unbelieving nation wrath shall flame out.

16:8. The ancient giants did not obtain pardon for their sins, who were
destroyed trusting to their own strength:

16:9. And he spared not the place where Lot sojourned, but abhorred them
for the pride of their word.

16:10. He had not pity on them, destroying the whole nation that
extolled themselves in their sins.

16:11. So did he with the six hundred thousand footmen, who were
gathered together in the hardness of their heart: and if one had been
stiffnecked, it is a wonder if he had escaped unpunished:

Six hundred thousand footmen, etc... Viz., the children of Israel, whom
he sentenced to die in the wilderness. Num. 14.

16:12. For mercy and wrath are with him. He is mighty to forgive, and to
pour out indignation:

16:13. According as his mercy is, so his correction judgeth a man
according to his works.

16:14. The sinner shall not escape in his rapines, and the patience of
him that sheweth mercy shall not be put off.

16:15. All mercy shall make a place for every man according to the merit
of his works, and according to th