I walked to St Tory chapel today, and looked out the window for a while. Then I sat in the chair and lectern there and read Proverbs 1 - 11. It spoke to me:

My child, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

Do not be wise in your own eyes.

If you listen to Solomon's words:

length of days and years of life
and abundant welfare they will give you.

it will be a healing for your flesh
and a refreshment for your body.

King Solomon does not like men sleeping with men's wives from neighbouring villages because it causes trouble:

Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;
for a prostitute's fee is only a loaf of bread,
but the wife of another stalks on a man's very life.
Can fire be carried in the bosom without burning one's clothes?
Or can one walk on hot coals without scorching the feet?
So is he who sleeps with his neighbour's wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.

Those whose paths are crooked,
and who are devious in their ways.
You will be saved from the loose woman,
from the adulteress with her smooth words,
who forsakes the partner of her youth
and forgets her sacred covenant;
for her way leads down to death,
and her paths to the shades;

It tackles the warmongers too:

What the wicked dread will come upon them.

and treats Wisdom as a woman. I was reminded of Dylan's 'Dignity'.

A slack hand causes poverty
but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life,
but one who rejects a rebuke goes astray.

When will you rise from your sleep.

There are six things that the LORD hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that hurry to run to evil,
a lying witness who testifies falsely,
and one who sows discord in a family.

Then I read the beautiful Song of Solomon.