Nor shall silver be weighed out as the price thereof.
It cannot be purchased with the gold of Ophir,
With the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
Gold and crystal are not to be compared with it;
Nor can it be purchased with jewels of fine gold.
No mention shall be made of coral, or of crystal,
For wisdom is more precious than pearls.
The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
Nor can it be purchased with the purest gold.

Whence then cometh wisdom?

And where is the place of understanding?
Since it is hidden from the eyes of all the living,
And kept close from the fowls of the air.
Destruction and Death say,

We have heard of its fame with our ears.
God only knoweth the way to it;

He only knoweth its dwelling-place.

For he seeth to the ends of the earth,

And surveyeth all things under the whole heaven.
When he gave the winds their weight,
And adjusted the waters by measure;
When he prescribed laws to the rain,
And a path to the glittering thunderbolt;
Then did he see it, and make it known;
He established it, and searched it out;
But he said unto man,

Behold! the fear of the Lord, that is thy wisdom,
And to depart from evil, thy understanding.

THE JUSTICE AND THE POWER OF GOD.

FROM CHAPTER XXXVI. VERSE 22, THROUGH CHAPTER XXXVIII.

BEHOLD, God is exalted by his power;
What potentate is like him?

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Who hath prescribed to him his way?

Or who can say to him, "Thou hast done wrong."

Forget not to magnify his work,

Which men celebrate with songs.

All mankind gaze upon it;

Mortals behold it from afar.

Behold, God is great; we cannot know him,
Nor search out the number of his years.
Lo, he draweth up the drops of water,
Which form rain from his vapour;
The clouds pour it down,

And distil it upon man in abundance.
Who can understand the spreading of his clouds,
And the rattling of his pavilion ?

Behold, he spreadeth around himself his light,
And he covereth the bottom of the sea.
By these he punisheth nations,
And by these he giveth food in abundance.
In both hands he holds the lightning;
He commissions it against an enemy;
He makes known his purpose against man,
And the herds and plants of the earth.

At this my heart trembleth,
And is moved out of its place.
Hear, O hear the sound of his voice,
And the noise, which issueth from his mouth.
He sendeth it through the whole heavens,
And his ghtning to the ends of the earth.
After it a voice roareth,

He thundereth with the voice of his majesty,
And restraineth not the tempest, when his voice is heard.
God thundereth marvellously with his voice;

Great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.
For he saith to the snow, "Be thou on the earth;"
Likewise to the rain, even the rains of his might.
He sealeth up the hand of every man,
That all his labourers may acknowledge him.
Then the beasts go into dens,

And abide in their caverns.

Out of the South cometh the whirlwind,
And cold out of the North.

By the breath of God ice is formed,
And the broad waters are made solid.

He causeth the clouds to descend in rain,

And his lightning scattereth the mists.
He leadeth them about by his wisdom,

That they may execute his commands throughout the world;

Whether he cause them to come for punishment,
Or for his earth, or for mercy.

Give ear unto this, O Job!

Stand still, and consider the wond'rous works of God. Dost thou know when God ordained them,

And caused the lightning of his cloud to flash?
Dost thou understand the balancing of the clouds,
The wondrous works of him that is perfect in wisdom?
How thy garments become warm,

When he maketh the earth sultry by his south wind?
Canst thou like him spread out the sky,

Firm like a molten mirror?

Teach us what we shall say to him,

For we cannot address him by reason of darkness.
If I speak, will it be told him?

Verily if a man speak to him, he will be consumed.

Men cannot look upon the light, When it is bright in the skies, When the wind hath passed over them, and made them clear,

And a golden splendour cometh from the firmament,— But with God is terrible majesty!

The Almighty, we cannot find him out ;
He is excellent in power and justice,

Perfect in righteousness, but he giveth no account of his doings.

Therefore let men fear him,

Whom none of the men of wisdom can behold.

Then spake Jehovah to Job out of the whirlwind, and said:

Who is this, that darkeneth my counsels by words without knowledge?

Gird up thy loins like a man;

I will ask thee, and answer thou me.

Where wast thou, when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, since thou hast such knowledge!

Who fixed its dimensions, since thou knowest!

Or who stretched out the line upon it!
Upon what were its foundations fixed?
And who laid its corner stone,
When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

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Hast thou ever commanded the morning,
Or caused the day-spring to know its place,-
That they should lay hold of the ends of the earth,
And shake the wicked out of it?

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It is changed as wax by the seal;

And all things stand forth as in rich apparel./
But from the wicked their light is withheld,
And the high raised arm is broken.

Hast thou penetrated to the springs of the sea,
And walked through the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been disclosed to thee,
And hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Hast thou discovered the breadth of the earth?
Declare, since thou knowest it all!

Where is the way to the abode of light?
And darkness, where is its dwelling place,
That thou mayest lead each of them to its boundary,
And know the paths to its mansion?
Surely thou knowest! for thou wast then born!
And the number of thy years is great!

Hast thou entered the storehouses of the snow,
Or seen the treasures of the hail?
Which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
Against the day of battle and war.

Where is the way, by which light is distributed,
And the east wind let loose upon the earth?
Who hath prepared a channel for the rain,
And a path for the glittering thunderbolt,
To give rain to the land without an inhabitant,
To the wilderness, where is no man;

To satisfy the desolate and waste ground,

And cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?

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Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades, Or loosen the bands of Orion?

Canst thou lead forth Mazzaroth in its season,
Or guide Arcturus with his sons?

Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens?
Hast thou appointed their dominion over the earth?
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds,

So that abundance of waters will cover thee?
Canst thou send forth lightn ngs? Will they go?
Will they say to thee, "Here we are?"
Who hath imparted understanding to clouds,
And given to meteors intelligence?
Who numbereth the clouds in wisdom?
And who poureth out the bottles of heaven,
When the dust is formed into a solid mass,
And the clods cleave fast together?

Canst thou hunt prey for the lioness,
Or satisfy the hunger of the young lions,
When they couch in their dens,
And lie in wait in the thicket?
Who provideth for the raven his food,
When his young ones cry unto God,
While they wander about without food?

THE WAR-HORSE.

CHAPTER XXXIX. VERSES 19-25.

HAST thou given the horse strength? Hast thou clothed neck with thunder?

Hast thou taught him to bound like the locust?

How terrible the noise of his nostrils!

He paweth in the valley; he exulteth in his strength,
And rusheth into the midst of arms.

He laugheth at fear; he trembleth not,
And turneth not back from the sword.
Against him rattleth the quiver,

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The glittering spear, and the lance.

With rage and fury he devoureth the ground;
He standeth not still, when the trumpet soundeth.
He saith among the trumpets, Aha! aha!
And snuffeth the battle afar off;

The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

TRANSLATIONS FROM THE PSALMS.

PERHAPS there is no book in the sacred volume, which is so much read as the Psalms of David. The peculiar characteristics of their poetical merit have been already briefly noticed; their devotional beauty and fervour can never be felt with too much intensity, nor admired with too much veneration. The variety and contrast in the feelings of the Royal Psalmist, at different periods of his eventful life, and in different circumstances of prosperity or trial, render his productions beautifully adapted to every frame of mind, to which the believer can be subject; while the extreme tenderness and pathos of his supplications is often sufficient, one would think, to subdue and soften even the hard heart of the infidel. His compositions are a storehouse from whence almost all characters of men may derive something suitable to their own condition and peculiarities of mind. Their elevated intellectual and contemplative oharacter, and the admiration of the beauty and glory of the created universe, which they express in such inimitable language, inimitable both for its sweetness and sublimity,—will always render them delightful to the man of genius and cultivated taste; but it is their touching adaptation to all the varieties of religious feeling, which gives them such an endurable hold upon the heart.

Here the grateful worshipper will find such irrepressible and ardent strains of thanksgiving, as might elevate his soul even to the holy adoration of the world above; Oh come let us sing unto the Lord! let us heartily rejoice in the Rock of our salvation.—I will sing to Jehovah as long as I live, I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.—Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!

For the true penitent they afford the most humble and heartfelt expressions of sorrow for sin, and the most earnest prayers for restoration and forgiveness; Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done evil in thy sight.-Cast me not away from thy presence, and lake not thy Holy Spirit from me. For those that mourn in Zion there is consolation in the sympathy of one, whose tears were his food day and night, when God had hidden his face from him. For the bereaved there are the most instructive pictures of calm and submissive affliction; I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it. Here the desponding may learn that others have been in the com

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