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November 07

Chùm ảnh: Không bệnh dịch mới là lạ!

Vừa sáp nhập vào Hà Nội, người dân các thôn Đồng Chiêm, Ái Nàng, Nam Hưng, Bắc Sơn nhiều ngày nay chìm trong nước lũ, đường sá còn đi lại được chỉ còn duy nhất con đê bao quanh xã An Phú (Mỹ Đức - Hà Nội).

Theo kinh nghiệm của người dân, nếu trời không mưa thì ít nhất cũng phải 20 ngày nữa nước mới rút hết. Tất cả giếng, bể đều bị ngập nên nguồn nước ăn duy nhất hiện nay là nước mưa. Phải rất tằn tiện số nước mưa ít ỏi này nên người dân chỉ dùng nấu ăn còn những việc khác đều dùng nước lụt dù biết là rất bẩn.

Dịch bệnh có thể bùng phát bất cứ lúc nào từ những sinh hoạt vô cùng mất vệ sinh của người dân nơi đây.

Con đê bao quanh thôn Ái Nàng là nơi cao nhất để người dân có thể tạm trú trong những ngày lụt.


Hầu hết nhà cửa, đường sá của thôn Đồng Chiêm, Ái Nàng, Nam Hưng chìm trong nước.




Mọi nguồn nước sạch đã bị ngập nên người dân buộc phải sử dụng chính nước lụt rửa ráy.


Gia đình anh Bạch Văn Tuyên (thôn Đồng Chiêm) dựng tạm túp lều trên vách đá, trâu cũng được đưa lên đỉnh núi chờ ngày nước rút.

Ở lại trông nom nhà cửa cùng đàn gà mấy trăm con, người đàn ông này đã phải sinh hoạt trong điều kiện không được vệ sinh này đã hơn 5 ngày (Ảnh chụp tại thôn Đồng Chiêm).


Một gia đình ở thôn Ái Nàng vui mừng vớt được chiếc bồn cầu đã "chia tay" nhà vệ sinh mấy hôm trước; với thứ nước bẩn như vậy hạn chế đi lại trong nhà là thượng sách (một gia đình ở thôn Đồng Chiêm).

Thiếu nước sạch, người đàn ông này đành thịt và rửa gà bằng nước lụt dù biết là rất bẩn.




Bất kỳ chỗ nào cao đều được người dân chọn làm chỗ tá túc chờ ngày nước rút, và tất nhiên những thứ rác rưởi lại thải xuống nước.

Và mọi đồ ăn uống cũng được rửa bằng thứ nước tràn ngập khắp nơi này.


Đàn lợn nhà anh Bạch Đông Hà ở thôn Đồng Chiêm kêu inh ỏi vì đói theo từng bước chân chủ đòi ăn.

Theo kinh nghiệm của người dân, nếu trời tạnh ráo cũng phải 20 ngày nữa nước mới rút hết, trong những ngày này nguồn thức ăn chủ yếu là cá (Ảnh chụp tại thôn Nam Hưng).

Lê Anh Dũng

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Genesis - IN BASIC ENGLISH

Genesis - IN BASIC ENGLISH 1:1		At the first God made the heaven and the earth.
1:2		And the earth was waste and without form; and it was dark on the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God was moving on the face of the waters.
1:3		And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
1:4		And God, looking on the light, saw that it was good: and God made a division between the light and the dark,
1:5		Naming the light, Day, and the dark, Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
1:6		And God said, Let there be a solid arch stretching over the waters, parting the waters from the waters.
1:7		And God made the arch for a division between the waters which were under the arch and those which were over it: and it was so.
1:8		And God gave the arch the name of Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
1:9		And God said, Let the waters under the heaven come together in one place, and let the dry land be seen: and it was so.
1:10		And God gave the dry land the name of Earth; and the waters together in their place were named Seas: and God saw that it was good.
1:11		And God said, Let grass come up on the earth, and plants producing seed, and fruit-trees giving fruit, in which is their seed, after their sort: and it was so.
1:12		And grass came up on the earth, and every plant producing seed of its sort, and every tree producing fruit, in which is its seed, of its sort: and God saw that it was good.
1:13		And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
1:14		And God said, Let there be lights in the arch of heaven, for a division between the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for marking the changes of the year, and for days and for years:
1:15		And let them be for lights in the arch of heaven to give light on the earth: and it was so.
1:16		And God made the two great lights: the greater light to be the ruler of the day, and the smaller light to be the ruler of the night: and he made the stars.
1:17		And God put them in the arch of heaven, to give light on the earth;
1:18		To have rule over the day and the night, and for a division between the light and the dark: and God saw that it was good.
1:19		And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
1:20		And God said, Let the waters be full of living things, and let birds be in flight over the earth under the arch of heaven.
1:21		And God made great sea-beasts, and every sort of living and moving thing with which the waters were full, and every sort of winged bird: and God saw that it was good.
1:22		And God gave them his blessing, saying, Be fertile and have increase, making all the waters of the seas full, and let the birds be increased in the earth.
1:23		And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
1:24		And God said, Let the earth give birth to all sorts of living things, cattle and all things moving on the earth, and beasts of the earth after their sort: and it was so.
1:25		And God made the beast of the earth after its sort, and the cattle after their sort, and everything moving on the face of the earth after its sort: and God saw that it was good.
1:26		And God said, Let us make man in our image, like us: and let him have rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every living thing which goes flat on the earth.
1:27		And God made man in his image, in the image of God he made him: male and female he made them.
1:28		And God gave them his blessing and said to them, Be fertile and have increase, and make the earth full and be masters of it; be rulers over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing moving on the earth.
1:29		And God said, See, I have given you every plant producing seed, on the face of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit producing seed: they will be for your food:
1:30		And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and every living thing moving on the face of the earth I have given every green plant for food: and it was so.
1:31		And God saw everything which he had made and it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

2:1		And the heaven and the earth and all things in them were complete.
2:2		And on the seventh day God came to the end of all his work; and on the seventh day he took his rest from all the work which he had done.
2:3		And God gave his blessing to the seventh day and made it holy: because on that day he took his rest from all the work which he had made and done.
2:4		These are the generations of the heaven and the earth when they were made.
2:5		In the day when the Lord God made earth and heaven there were no plants of the field on the earth, and no grass had come up: for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to do work on the land.
2:6		But a mist went up from the earth, watering all the face of the land.
2:7		And the Lord God made man from the dust of the earth, breathing into him the breath of life: and man became a living soul.
2:8		And the Lord God made a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had made.
2:9		And out of the earth the Lord made every tree to come, delighting the eye and good for food; and in the middle of the garden, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
2:10		And a river went out of Eden giving water to the garden; and from there it was parted and became four streams.
2:11		The name of the first is Pishon, which goes round about all the land of Havilah where there is gold.
2:12		And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
2:13		And the name of the second river is Gihon: this river goes round all the land of Cush.
2:14		And the name of the third river is Tigris, which goes to the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
2:15		And the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to do work in it and take care of it.
2:16		And the Lord God gave the man orders, saying, You may freely take of the fruit of every tree of the garden:
2:17		But of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may not take; for on the day when you take of it, death will certainly come to you.
2:18		And the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be by himself: I will make one like himself as a help to him
2:19		And from the earth the Lord God made every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and took them to the man to see what names he would give them: and whatever name he gave to any living thing, that was its name.
2:20		And the man gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the air and to every beast of the field; but Adam had no one like himself as a help.
2:21		And the Lord God sent a deep sleep on the man, and took one of the bones from his side while he was sleeping, joining up the flesh again in its place:
2:22		And the bone which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman, and took her to the man.
2:23		And the man said, This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh: let her name be Woman because she was taken out of Man.
2:24		For this cause will a man go away from his father and his mother and be joined to his wife; and they will be one flesh.
2:25		And the man and his wife were without clothing, and they had no sense of shame.

3:1		Now the snake was wiser than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God truly said that you may not take of the fruit of any tree in the garden?
3:2		And the woman said, We may take of the fruit of the trees in the garden:
3:3		But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, If you take of it or put your hands on it, death will come to you.
3:4		And the snake said, Death will not certainly come to you:
3:5		For God sees that on the day when you take of its fruit, your eyes will be open, and you will be as gods, having knowledge of good and evil.
3:6		And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and a delight to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and gave it to her husband.
3:7		And their eyes were open and they were conscious that they had no clothing and they made themselves coats of leaves stitched together.
3:8		And there came to them the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the evening wind: and the man and his wife went to a secret place among the trees of the garden, away from the eyes of the Lord God.
3:9		And the voice of the Lord God came to the man, saying, Where are you?
3:10		And he said, Hearing your voice in the garden I was full of fear, because I was without clothing: and I kept myself from your eyes.
3:11		And he said, Who gave you the knowledge that you were without clothing? Have you taken of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take?
3:12		And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree and I took it.
3:13		And the Lord God said to the woman, What have you done? And the woman said, I was tricked by the deceit of the snake and I took it.
3:14		And the Lord God said to the snake, Because you have done this you are cursed more than all cattle and every beast of the field; you will go flat on the earth, and dust will be your food all the days of your life:
3:15		And there will be war between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed: by him will your head be crushed and by you his foot will be wounded.
3:16		To the woman he said, Great will be your pain in childbirth; in sorrow will your children come to birth; still your desire will be for your husband, but he will be your master.
3:17		And to Adam he said, Because you gave ear to the voice of your wife and took of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take, the earth is cursed on your account; in pain you will get your food from it all your life.
3:18		Thorns and waste plants will come up, and the plants of the field will be your food;
3:19		With the hard work of your hands you will get your bread till you go back to the earth from which you were taken: for dust you are and to the dust you will go back.
3:20		And the man gave his wife the name of Eve because she was the mother of all who have life.
3:21		And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins for their clothing.
3:22		And the Lord God said, Now the man has become like one of us, having knowledge of good and evil; and now if he puts out his hand and takes of the fruit of the tree of life, he will go on living for ever.
3:23		So the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to be a worker on the earth from which he was taken.
3:24		So he sent the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden he put winged ones and a flaming sword turning every way to keep the way to the tree of life.

4:1		And the man had connection with Eve his wife, and she became with child and gave birth to Cain, and said, I have got a man from the Lord.
4:2		Then again she became with child and gave birth to Abel, his brother. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a farmer.
4:3		And after a time, Cain gave to the Lord an offering of the fruits of the earth.
4:4		And Abel gave an offering of the young lambs of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord was pleased with Abel's offering;
4:5		But in Cain and his offering he had no pleasure. And Cain was angry and his face became sad.
4:6		And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? and why is your face sad?
4:7		If you do well, will you not have honour? and if you do wrong, sin is waiting at the door, desiring to have you, but do not let it be your master.
4:8		And Cain said to his brother, Let us go into the field: and when they were in the field, Cain made an attack on his brother Abel and put him to death.
4:9		And the Lord said to Cain, Where is your brother Abel? And he said, I have no idea: am I my brother's keeper?
4:10		And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the earth.
4:11		And now you are cursed from the earth, whose mouth is open to take your brother's blood from your hand;
4:12		No longer will the earth give you her fruit as the reward of your work; you will be a wanderer in flight over the earth.
4:13		And Cain said, My punishment is greater than my strength.
4:14		You have sent me out this day from the face of the earth and from before your face; I will be a wanderer in flight over the earth, and whoever sees me will put me to death.
4:15		And the Lord said, Truly, if Cain is put to death, seven lives will be taken for his. And the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one might put him to death.
4:16		And Cain went away from before the face of the Lord, and made his living-place in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.
4:17		And Cain had connection with his wife and she became with child and gave birth to Enoch: and he made a town, and gave the town the name of Enoch after his son.
4:18		And Enoch had a son Irad: and Irad became the father of Mehujael: and Mehujael became the father of Methushael: and Methushael became the father of Lamech.
4:19		And Lamech had two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
4:20		And Adah gave birth to Jabal: he was the father of such as are living in tents and keep cattle.
4:21		And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all players on instruments of music.
4:22		And Zillah gave birth to Tubal-cain, who is the father of every maker of cutting instruments of brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
4:23		And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, give ear to my voice; you wives of Lamech, give attention to my words, for I would put a man to death for a wound, and a young man for a blow;
4:24		If seven lives are to be taken as punishment for Cain's death, seventy-seven will be taken for Lamech's.
4:25		And Adam had connection with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son to whom she gave the name of Seth: for she said, God has given me another seed in place of Abel, whom Cain put to death.
4:26		And Seth had a son, and he gave him the name of Enosh: at this time men first made use of the name of the Lord in worship.

5:1		This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God made man, he made him in the image of God;
5:2		Male and female he made them, naming them Man, and giving them his blessing on the day when they were made.
5:3		Adam had been living for a hundred and thirty years when he had a son like himself, after his image, and gave him the name of Seth:
5:4		And after the birth of Seth, Adam went on living for eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters:
5:5		And all the years of Adam's life were nine hundred and thirty: and he came to his end.
5:6		And Seth was a hundred and five years old when he became the father of Enosh:
5:7		And he went on living after the birth of Enosh for eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters:
5:8		And all the years of Seth's life were nine hundred and twelve: and he came to his end.
5:9		And Enosh was ninety years old when he became the father of Kenan:
5:10		And after the birth of Kenan, Enosh went on living for eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters:
5:11		And all the years of Enosh were nine hundred and five: and he came to his end.
5:12		And Kenan was seventy years old when he became the father of Mahalalel:
5:13		And after the birth of Mahalalel, Kenan went on living for eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters:
5:14		And all the years of Kenan's life were nine hundred and ten; and he came to his end.
5:15		And Mahalalel was sixty-five years old when he became the father of Jared:
5:16		And after the birth of Jared, Mahalalel went on living for eight hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters:
5:17		And all the years of Mahalalel's life were eight hundred and ninety-five: and he came to his end.
5:18		And Jared was a hundred and sixty-two years old when he became the father of Enoch:
5:19		And Jared went on living after the birth of Enoch for eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters:
5:20		And all the years of Jared's life were nine hundred and sixty-two: and he came to his end.
5:21		And Enoch was sixty-five years old when he became the father of Methuselah:
5:22		And after the birth of Methuselah, Enoch went on in God's ways for three hundred years, and had sons and daughters:
5:23		And all the years of Enoch's life were three hundred and sixty-five:
5:24		And Enoch went on in God's ways: and he was not seen again, for God took him.
5:25		And Methuselah was a hundred and eighty-seven years old when he became the father of Lamech:
5:26		And after the birth of Lamech, Methuselah went on living for seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had sons and daughters:
5:27		And all the years of Methuselah's life were nine hundred and sixty-nine: and he came to his end.
5:28		And Lamech was a hundred and eighty-two years old when he had a son:
5:29		And he gave him the name of Noah, saying, Truly, he will give us rest from our trouble and the hard work of our hands, because of the earth which was cursed by God.
5:30		And after the birth of Noah, Lamech went on living for five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters:
5:31		And all the years of Lamech's life were seven hundred and seventy-seven: and he came to his end.
5:32		And when Noah was five hundred years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

6:1		And after a time, when men were increasing on the earth, and had daughters,
6:2		The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took wives for themselves from those who were pleasing to them.
6:3		And the Lord said, My spirit will not be in man for ever, for he is only flesh; so the days of his life will be a hundred and twenty years.
6:4		There were men of great strength and size on the earth in those days; and after that, when the sons of God had connection with the daughters of men, they gave birth to children: these were the great men of old days, the men of great name.
6:5		And the Lord saw that the sin of man was great on the earth, and that all the thoughts of his heart were evil.
6:6		And the Lord had sorrow because he had made man on the earth, and grief was in his heart.
6:7		And the Lord said, I will take away man, whom I have made, from the face of the earth, even man and beast and that which goes on the earth and every bird of the air; for I have sorrow for having made them.
6:8		But Noah had grace in the eyes of God.
6:9		These are the generations of Noah. Noah was an upright man and without sin in his generation: he went in the ways of God.
6:10		And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
6:11		And the earth was evil in God's eyes and full of violent ways.
6:12		And God, looking on the earth, saw that it was evil: for the way of all flesh had become evil on the earth.
6:13		And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come; the earth is full of their violent doings, and now I will put an end to them with the earth.
6:14		Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood with rooms in it, and make it safe from the water inside and out.
6:15		And this is the way you are to make it: it is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.
6:16		You are to put a window in the ark, a cubit from the roof, and a door in the side of it, and you are to make it with a lower and second and third floors.
6:17		For truly, I will send a great flow of waters over the earth, for the destruction from under the heaven of all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything on the earth will come to an end.
6:18		But with you I will make an agreement; and you will come into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you.
6:19		And you will take with you into the ark two of every sort of living thing, and keep them safe with you; they will be male and female.
6:20		Two of every sort of bird and cattle and of every sort of living thing which goes on the earth will you take with you to keep them from destruction.
6:21		And make a store of every sort of food for yourself and them.
6:22		And all these things Noah did; as God said, so he did.

7:1		And the Lord said to Noah, Take all your family and go into the ark, for you only in this generation have I seen to be upright.
7:2		Of every clean beast you will take seven males and seven females, and of the beasts which are not clean, two, the male and his female;
7:3		And of the birds of the air, seven males and seven females, so that their seed may still be living on the face of the earth.
7:4		For after seven days I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, for the destruction of every living thing which I have made on the face of the earth.
7:5		And Noah did everything which the Lord said he was to do.
7:6		And Noah was six hundred years old when the waters came flowing over all the earth.
7:7		And Noah, with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives, went into the ark because of the flowing of the waters.
7:8		Of clean beasts, and of beasts which are not clean, and of birds, and of everything which goes on the earth,
7:9		In twos, male and female, they went into the ark with Noah, as God had said.
7:10		And after the seven days, the waters came over all the earth.
7:11		In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the great deep came bursting through, and the windows of heaven were open;
7:12		And rain came down on the earth for forty days and forty nights.
7:13		On the same day Noah, with Shem, Ham, and Japheth, his sons, and his wife and his sons' wives, went into the ark;
7:14		And with them, every sort of beast and cattle, and every sort of thing which goes on the earth, and every sort of bird.
7:15		They went with Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh in which is the breath of life.
7:16		Male and female of all flesh went in, as God had said, and the ark was shut by the Lord.
7:17		And for forty days the waters were over all the earth; and the waters were increased so that the ark was lifted up high over the earth.
7:18		And the waters overcame everything and were increased greatly on the earth, and the ark was resting on the face of the waters.
7:19		And the waters overcame everything on the earth; and all the mountains under heaven were covered.
7:20		The waters went fifteen cubits higher, till all the mountains were covered.
7:21		And destruction came on every living thing moving on the earth, birds and cattle and beasts and everything which went on the earth, and every man.
7:22		Everything on the dry land, in which was the breath of life, came to its end.
7:23		Every living thing on the face of all the earth, man and cattle and things moving on the face of the earth, and birds of the air, came to destruction: only Noah and those who were with him in the ark, were kept from death.
7:24		And the waters were over the earth a hundred and fifty days.

8:1		And God kept Noah in mind, and all the living things and the cattle which were with him in the ark: and God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters went down.
8:2		And the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were shut, and the rain from heaven was stopped.
8:3		And the waters went slowly back from the earth, and at the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters were lower.
8:4		And on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
8:5		And still the waters went on falling, till on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen.
8:6		Then, after forty days, through the open window of the ark which he had made,
8:7		Noah sent out a raven, which went this way and that till the waters were gone from the earth.
8:8		And he sent out a dove, to see if the waters had gone from the face of the earth;
8:9		But the dove saw no resting-place for her foot, and came back to the ark, for the waters were still over all the earth; and he put out his hand, and took her into the ark.
8:10		And after waiting another seven days, he sent the dove out again;
8:11		And the dove came back at evening, and in her mouth was an olive-leaf broken off: so Noah was certain that the waters had gone down on the earth.
8:12		And after seven days more, he sent the dove out again, but she did not come back to him.
8:13		And in the six hundred and first year, on the first day of the first month, the waters were dry on the earth: and Noah took the cover off the ark and saw that the face of the earth was dry.
8:14		And on the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was dry.
8:15		And God said to Noah,
8:16		Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives.
8:17		Take out with you every living thing which is with you, birds and cattle and everything which goes on the earth, so that they may have offspring and be fertile and be increased on the earth.
8:18		And Noah went out with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives;
8:19		And every beast and bird and every living thing of every sort which goes on the earth, went out of the ark.
8:20		And Noah made an altar to the Lord, and from every clean beast and bird he made burned offerings on the altar.
8:21		And when the sweet smell came up to the Lord, he said in his heart, I will not again put a curse on the earth because of man, for the thoughts of man's heart are evil from his earliest days; never again will I send destruction on all living things as I have done.
8:22		While the earth goes on, seed time and the getting in of the grain, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, will not come to an end.

9:1		And God gave his blessing to Noah and his sons, and said, Be fertile, and have increase, and make the earth full.
9:2		And the fear of you will be strong in every beast of the earth and every bird of the air; everything which goes on the land, and all the fishes of the sea, are given into your hands.
9:3		Every living and moving thing will be food for you; I give them all to you as before I gave you all green things.
9:4		But flesh with the life-blood in it you may not take for food.
9:5		And for your blood, which is your life, will I take payment; from every beast I will take it, and from every man will I take payment for the blood of his brother-man.
9:6		Whoever takes a man's life, by man will his life be taken; because God made man in his image.
9:7		And now, be fertile and have increase; have offspring on the earth and become great in number.
9:8		And God said to Noah and to his sons,
9:9		Truly, I will make my agreement with you and with your seed after you,
9:10		And with every living thing with you, all birds and cattle and every beast of the earth which comes out of the ark with you.
9:11		And I will make my agreement with you; never again will all flesh be cut off by the waters; never again will the waters come over all the earth for its destruction.
9:12		And God said, This is the sign of the agreement which I make between me and you and every living thing with you, for all future generations:
9:13		I will put my bow in the cloud and it will be for a sign of the agreement between me and the earth.
9:14		And whenever I make a cloud come over the earth, the bow will be seen in the cloud,
9:15		And I will keep in mind the agreement between me and you and every living thing; and never again will there be a great flow of waters causing destruction to all flesh.
9:16		And the bow will be in the cloud, and looking on it, I will keep in mind the eternal agreement between God and every living thing on the earth.
9:17		And God said to Noah, This is the sign of the agreement which I have made between me and all flesh on the earth.
9:18		And the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and Ham is the father of Canaan.
9:19		These three were the sons of Noah and from them all the earth was peopled.
9:20		In those days Noah became a farmer, and he made a vine-garden.
9:21		And he took of the wine of it and was overcome by drink; and he was uncovered in his tent.
9:22		And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father unclothed, and gave news of it to his two brothers outside.
9:23		And Shem and Japheth took a robe, and putting it on their backs went in with their faces turned away, and put it over their father so that they might not see him unclothed.
9:24		And, awaking from his wine, Noah saw what his youngest son had done to him, and he said,
9:25		Cursed be Canaan; let him be a servant of servants to his brothers.
9:26		And he said, Praise to the Lord, the God of Shem; let Canaan be his servant.
9:27		May God make Japheth great, and let his living-place be in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.
9:28		And Noah went on living three hundred and fifty years after the great flow of waters;
9:29		all the years of his life were nine hundred and fifty: and he came to his end.

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October 30

Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes

1:1		The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
1:2		All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose.
1:3		What is a man profited by all his work which he does under the sun?
1:4		One generation goes and another comes; but the earth is for ever.
1:5		The sun comes up and the sun goes down, and goes quickly back to the place where he came up.
1:6		The wind goes to the south, turning back again to the north; circling round for ever.
1:7		All the rivers go down to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the rivers go, there they go again.
1:8		All things are full of weariness; man may not give their story: the eye has never enough of its seeing, or the ear of its hearing.
1:9		That which has been, is that which is to be, and that which has been done, is that which will be done, and there is no new thing under the sun.
1:10		Is there anything of which men say, See, this is new? It has been in the old time which was before us.
1:11		There is no memory of those who have gone before, and of those who come after there will be no memory for those who are still to come after them.
1:12		I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
1:13		And I gave my heart to searching out in wisdom all things which are done under heaven: it is a hard thing which God has put on the sons of men to do.
1:14		I have seen all the works which are done under the sun; all is to no purpose, and desire for wind.
1:15		That which is bent may not be made straight, and that which is not there may not be numbered.
1:16		I said to my heart, See, I have become great and am increased in wisdom more than any who were before me in Jerusalem--yes, my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.
1:17		And I gave my heart to getting knowledge of wisdom, and of the ways of the foolish. And I saw that this again was desire for wind.
1:18		Because in much wisdom is much grief, and increase of knowledge is increase of sorrow.

2:1		I said in my heart, I will give you joy for a test; so take your pleasure--but it was to no purpose.
2:2		Of laughing I said, It is foolish; and of joy--What use is it?
2:3		I made a search with my heart to give pleasure to my flesh with wine, still guiding my heart with wisdom, and to go after foolish things, so that I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under the heavens all the days of their life.
2:4		I undertook great works, building myself houses and planting vine-gardens.
2:5		I made myself gardens and fruit gardens, planting in them fruit-trees of all sorts.
2:6		I made pools to give water for the woods with their young trees.
2:7		I got men-servants and women-servants, and they gave birth to sons and daughters in my house. I had great wealth of herds and flocks, more than all who were in Jerusalem before me.
2:8		I got together silver and gold and the wealth of kings and of countries. I got makers of song, male and female; and the delights of the sons of men--girls of all sorts to be my brides.
2:9		And I became great; increasing more than all who had been before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom was still with me.
2:10		And nothing which was desired by my eyes did I keep from them; I did not keep any joy from my heart, because my heart took pleasure in all my work, and this was my reward.
2:11		Then I saw all the works which my hands had made, and everything I had been working to do; and I saw that all was to no purpose and desire for wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
2:12		And I went again in search of wisdom and of foolish ways. What may the man do who comes after the king? The thing which he has done before.
2:13		Then I saw that wisdom is better than foolish ways--as the light is better than the dark.
2:14		The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the foolish man goes walking in the dark; but still I saw that the same event comes to them all.
2:15		Then said I in my heart: As it comes to the foolish man, so will it come to me; so why have I been wise overmuch? Then I said in my heart: This again is to no purpose.
2:16		Of the wise man, as of the foolish man, there is no memory for ever, seeing that those who now are will have gone from memory in the days to come. See how death comes to the wise as to the foolish!
2:17		So I was hating life, because everything under the sun was evil to me: all is to no purpose and desire for wind.
2:18		Hate had I for all my work which I had done, because the man who comes after me will have its fruits.
2:19		And who is to say if that man will be wise or foolish? But he will have power over all my work which I have done and in which I have been wise under the sun. This again is to no purpose.
2:20		So my mind was turned to grief for all the trouble I had taken and all my wisdom under the sun.
2:21		Because there is a man whose work has been done with wisdom, with knowledge, and with an expert hand; but one who has done nothing for it will have it for his heritage. This again is to no purpose and a great evil.
2:22		What does a man get for all his work, and for the weight of care with which he has done his work under the sun?
2:23		All his days are sorrow, and his work is full of grief. Even in the night his heart has no rest. This again is to no purpose.
2:24		There is nothing better for a man than taking meat and drink, and having delight in his work. This again I saw was from the hand of God.
2:25		Who may take food or have pleasure without him?
2:26		To the man with whom he is pleased, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of getting goods together and storing up wealth, to give to him in whom God has pleasure. This again is to no purpose and desire for wind.

3:1		For everything there is a fixed time, and a time for every business under the sun.
3:2		A time for birth and a time for death; a time for planting and a time for uprooting;
3:3		A time to put to death and a time to make well; a time for pulling down and a time for building up;
3:4		A time for weeping and a time for laughing; a time for sorrow and a time for dancing;
3:5		A time to take stones away and a time to get stones together; a time for kissing and a time to keep from kissing;
3:6		A time for search and a time for loss; a time to keep and a time to give away;
3:7		A time for undoing and a time for stitching; a time for keeping quiet and a time for talk;
3:8		A time for love and a time for hate; a time for war and a time for peace.
3:9		What profit has the worker in the work which he does?
3:10		I saw the work which God has put on the sons of man.
3:11		He has made everything right in its time; but he has made their hearts without knowledge, so that man is unable to see the works of God, from the first to the last.
3:12		I am certain that there is nothing better for a man than to be glad, and to do good while life is in him.
3:13		And for every man to take food and drink, and have joy in all his work, is a reward from God.
3:14		I am certain that whatever God does will be for ever. No addition may be made to it, nothing may be taken from it; and God has done it so that man may be in fear before him.
3:15		Whatever is has been before, and what is to be is now; because God makes search for the things which are past.
3:16		And again, I saw under the sun, in the place of the judges, that evil was there; and in the place of righteousness, that evil was there.
3:17		I said in my heart, God will be judge of the good and of the bad; because a time for every purpose and for every work has been fixed by him.
3:18		I said in my heart, It is because of the sons of men, so that God may put them to the test and that they may see themselves as beasts.
3:19		Because the fate of the sons of men and the fate of the beasts is the same. As is the death of one so is the death of the other, and all have one spirit. Man is not higher than the beasts; because all is to no purpose.
3:20		All go to one place, all are of the dust, and all will be turned to dust again.
3:21		Who is certain that the spirit of the sons of men goes up to heaven, or that the spirit of the beasts goes down to the earth?
3:22		So I saw that there is nothing better than for a man to have joy in his work--because that is his reward. Who will make him see what will come after him?

4:1		And again I saw all the cruel things which are done under the sun; there was the weeping of those who have evil done to them, and they had no comforter: and from the hands of the evil-doers there went out power, but they had no comforter.
4:2		So my praise was for the dead who have gone to their death, more than for the living who still have life.
4:3		Yes, happier than the dead or the living seemed he who has not ever been, who has not seen the evil which is done under the sun.
4:4		And I saw that the cause of all the work and of everything which is done well was man's envy of his neighbour. This again is to no purpose and a desire for wind.
4:5		The foolish man, folding his hands, takes the flesh of his body for food.
4:6		One hand full of rest is better than two hands full of trouble and desire for wind.
4:7		Then I came back, and I saw an example of what is to no purpose under the sun.
4:8		It is one who is by himself, without a second, and without son or brother; but there is no end to all his work, and he has never enough of wealth. For whom, then, am I working and keeping myself from pleasure? This again is to no purpose, and a bitter work.
4:9		Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their work.
4:10		And if one has a fall, the other will give him a hand; but unhappy is the man who is by himself, because he has no helper.
4:11		So again, if two are sleeping together they are warm, but how may one be warm by himself?
4:12		And two attacked by one would be safe, and three cords twisted together are not quickly broken.
4:13		A young man who is poor and wise is better than a king who is old and foolish and will not be guided by the wisdom of others.
4:14		Because out of a prison the young man comes to be king, though by birth he was only a poor man in the kingdom.
4:15		I saw all the living under the sun round the young man who was to be ruler in place of the king.
4:16		There was no end of all the people, of all those whose head he was, but they who come later will have no delight in him. This again is to no purpose and desire for wind.

5:1		Put your feet down with care when you go to the house of God, for it is better to give ear than to make the burned offerings of the foolish, whose knowledge is only of doing evil.
5:2		Be not unwise with your mouth, and let not your heart be quick to say anything before God, because God is in heaven and you are on the earth--so let not the number of your words be great.
5:3		As a dream comes from much business, so the voice of a foolish man comes with words in great number.
5:4		When you take an oath before God, put it quickly into effect, because he has no pleasure in the foolish; keep the oath you have taken.
5:5		It is better not to take an oath than to take an oath and not keep it.
5:6		Let not your mouth make your flesh do evil. And say not before the angel, It was an error. So that God may not be angry with your words and put an end to the work of your hands.
5:7		Because much talk comes from dreams and things of no purpose. But let the fear of God be in you.
5:8		If you see the poor under a cruel yoke, and law and right being violently overturned in a country, be not surprised, because one authority is keeping watch on another and there are higher than they.
5:9		It is good generally for a country where the land is worked to have a king.
5:10		He who has a love for silver never has enough silver, or he who has love for wealth, enough profit. This again is to no purpose.
5:11		When goods are increased, the number of those who take of them is increased; and what profit has the owner but to see them?
5:12		The sleep of a working man is sweet, if he has little food or much; but to him who is full, sleep will not come.
5:13		There is a great evil which I have seen under the sun--wealth kept by the owner to be his downfall.
5:14		And I saw the destruction of his wealth by an evil chance; and when he became the father of a son he had nothing in his hand.
5:15		As he came from his mother at birth, so does he go again; he gets from his work no reward which he may take away in his hand.
5:16		And this again is a great evil, that in all points as he came so will he go; and what profit has he in working for the wind?
5:17		All his days are in the dark, and he has much sorrow, pain, disease, and trouble.
5:18		This is what I have seen: it is good and fair for a man to take meat and drink and to have joy in all his work under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; that is his reward.
5:19		Every man to whom God has given money and wealth and the power to have pleasure in it and to do his part and have joy in his work: this is given by God.
5:20		He will not give much thought to the days of his life; because God lets him be taken up with the joy of his heart.

6:1		There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is hard on men;
6:2		A man to whom God gives money, wealth, and honour so that he has all his desires but God does not give him the power to have joy of it, and a strange man takes it. This is to no purpose and an evil disease.
6:3		If a man has a hundred children, and his life is long so that the days of his years are great in number, but his soul takes no pleasure in good, and he is not honoured at his death; I say that a birth before its time is better than he.
6:4		In wind it came and to the dark it will go, and with the dark will its name be covered.
6:5		Yes, it saw not the sun, and it had no knowledge; it is better with this than with the other.
6:6		And though he goes on living a thousand years twice over and does not see good, are not the two going to the same place?
6:7		All the work of man is for his mouth, and still he has a desire for food.
6:8		What have the wise more than the foolish? and what has the poor man by walking wisely before the living?
6:9		What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind.
6:10		That which is, has been named before, and of what man is there is knowledge. He has no power against one stronger than he.
6:11		There are words without number for increasing what is to no purpose, but what is man profited by them?
6:12		Who is able to say what is good for man in life all the days of his foolish life which he goes through like a shade? who will say what is to be after him under the sun?

7:1		A good name is better than oil of great price, and the day of death than the day of birth.
7:2		It is better to go to the house of weeping, than to go to the house of feasting; because that is the end of every man, and the living will take it to their hearts.
7:3		Sorrow is better than joy; when the face is sad the mind gets better.
7:4		The hearts of the wise are in the house of weeping; but the hearts of the foolish are in the house of joy.
7:5		It is better to take note of the protest of the wise, than for a man to give ear to the song of the foolish.
7:6		Like the cracking of thorns under a pot, so is the laugh of a foolish man; and this again is to no purpose.
7:7		The wise are troubled by the ways of the cruel, and the giving of money is the destruction of the heart.
7:8		The end of a thing is better than its start, and a gentle spirit is better than pride.
7:9		Be not quick to let your spirit be angry; because wrath is in the heart of the foolish.
7:10		Say not, Why were the days which have gone by better than these? Such a question comes not from wisdom.
7:11		Wisdom together with a heritage is good, and a profit to those who see the sun.
7:12		Wisdom keeps a man from danger even as money does; but the value of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to its owner.
7:13		Give thought to the work of God. Who will make straight what he has made bent?
7:14		In the day of wealth have joy, but in the day of evil take thought: God has put the one against the other, so that man may not be certain what will be after him.
7:15		These two have I seen in my life which is to no purpose: a good man coming to his end in his righteousness, and an evil man whose days are long in his evil-doing.
7:16		Be not given overmuch to righteousness and be not over-wise. Why let destruction come on you?
7:17		Be not evil overmuch, and be not foolish. Why come to your end before your time?
7:18		It is good to take this in your hand and not to keep your hand from that; he who has the fear of God will be free of the two.
7:19		Wisdom makes a wise man stronger than ten rulers in a town.
7:20		There is no man on earth of such righteousness that he does good and is free from sin all his days.
7:21		Do not give ear to all the words which men say, for fear of hearing the curses of your servant.
7:22		Your heart has knowledge how frequently others have been cursed by you.
7:23		All this I have put to the test by wisdom; I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me.
7:24		Far off is true existence, and very deep; who may have knowledge of it?
7:25		I gave my mind to knowledge and to searching for wisdom and the reason of things, and to the discovery that sin is foolish, and that to be foolish is to be without one's senses.
7:26		And I saw a thing more bitter than death, even the woman whose heart is full of tricks and nets, and whose hands are as bands. He with whom God is pleased will get free from her, but the sinner will be taken by her.
7:27		Look! this I have seen, said the Preacher, taking one thing after another to get the true account,
7:28		For which my soul is still searching, but I have it not; one man among a thousand have I seen; but a woman among all these I have not seen.
7:29		This only have I seen, that God made men upright, but they have been searching out all sorts of inventions.

8:1		Who is like the wise man? and to whom is the sense of anything clear? A man's wisdom makes his face shining, and his hard face will be changed.
8:2		I say to you, Keep the king's law, from respect for the oath of God.
8:3		Be not quick to go from before him. Be not fixed in an evil design, because he does whatever is pleasing to him.
8:4		The word of a king has authority; and who may say to him, What is this you are doing?
8:5		Whoever keeps the law will come to no evil: and a wise man's heart has knowledge of time and of decision.
8:6		For every purpose there is a time and a decision, because the sorrow of man is great in him.
8:7		No one is certain what is to be, and who is able to say to him when it will be?
8:8		No man has authority over the wind, to keep the wind; or is ruler over the day of his death. In war no man's time is free, and evil will not keep the sinner safe.
8:9		All this have I seen, and have given my heart to all the work which is done under the sun: there is a time when man has power over man for his destruction.
8:10		And then I saw evil men put to rest, taken even from the holy place; and they went about and were praised in the town because of what they had done. This again is to no purpose.
8:11		Because punishment for an evil work comes not quickly, the minds of the sons of men are fully given to doing evil.
8:12		Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his life is long, I am certain that it will be well for those who go in fear of God and are in fear before him.
8:13		But it will not be well for the evil-doer; he will not make his days long like a shade, because he has no fear before God.
8:14		There is a thing which is to no purpose done on the earth: that there are good men to whom is given the same punishment as those who are evil, and there are evil men who get the reward of the good. I say that this again is to no purpose.
8:15		So I gave praise to joy, because there is nothing better for a man to do under the sun than to take meat and drink and be happy; for that will be with him in his work all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.
8:16		When I gave my mind to the knowledge of wisdom and to seeing the business which is done on the earth (and there are those whose eyes see not sleep by day or by night),
8:17		Then I saw all the work of God, and that man may not get knowledge of the work which is done under the sun; because, if a man gives hard work to the search he will not get knowledge, and even if the wise man seems to be coming to the end of his search, still he will be without knowledge.

9:1		All this I took to heart, and my heart saw it all: that the upright and the wise and their works are in the hand of God; and men may not be certain if it will be love or hate; all is to no purpose before them.
9:2		Because to all there is one event, to the upright man and to the evil, to the clean and to the unclean, to him who makes an offering and to him who makes no offering; as is the good so is the sinner; he who takes an oath is as he who has fear of it.
9:3		This is evil in all things which are done under the sun: that there is one fate for all, and the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; while they have life their hearts are foolish, and after that--to the dead.
9:4		For him who is joined to all the living there is hope; a living dog is better than a dead lion.
9:5		The living are conscious that death will come to them, but the dead are not conscious of anything, and they no longer have a reward, because there is no memory of them.
9:6		Their love and their hate and their envy are now ended; and they have no longer a part for ever in anything which is done under the sun.
9:7		Come, take your bread with joy, and your wine with a glad heart. God has taken pleasure in your works.
9:8		Let your clothing be white at all times, and let not your head be without oil.
9:9		Have joy with the woman of your love all the days of your foolish life which he gives you under the sun. Because that is your part in life and in your work which you do under the sun.
9:10		Whatever comes to your hand to do with all your power, do it because there is no work, or thought, or knowledge, or wisdom in the place of the dead to which you are going.
9:11		And again I saw under the sun that the reward goes not to him who is quick, or the fruits of war to the strong; and there is no bread for the wise, or wealth for men of learning, or respect for those who have knowledge; but time and chance come to all.
9:12		Even man has no knowledge of his time; like fishes taken in an evil net, or like birds taken by deceit, are the sons of men taken in an evil time when it comes suddenly on them.
9:13		This again I have seen under the sun as wisdom and it seemed great to me.
9:14		There was a little town and the number of its men was small, and there came a great king against it and made an attack on it, building works of war round about it.
9:15		Now there was in the town a poor, wise man, and he, by his wisdom, kept the town safe. But no one had any memory of that same poor man.
9:16		Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength, but the poor man's wisdom is not respected, and his words are not given a hearing.
9:17		The words of the wise which come quietly to the ear are noted more than the cry of a ruler among the foolish.
9:18		Wisdom is better than instruments of war, but one sinner is the destruction of much good.

10:1		Dead flies make the oil of the perfumer give out an evil smell; more valued is a little wisdom than the great glory of the foolish.
10:2		The heart of the wise man goes in the right direction; but the heart of a foolish man in the wrong.
10:3		And when the foolish man is walking in the way, he has no sense and lets everyone see that he is foolish.
10:4		If the wrath of the ruler is against you, keep in your place; in him who keeps quiet even great sins may be overlooked.
10:5		There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, like an error which comes by chance from a ruler:
10:6		The foolish are placed in high positions, but men of wealth are kept low.
10:7		I have seen servants on horses, and rulers walking on the earth as servants.
10:8		He who makes a hole for others will himself go into it, and for him who makes a hole through a wall the bite of a snake will be a punishment.
10:9		He who gets out stones from the earth will be damaged by them, and in the cutting of wood there is danger.
10:10		If the iron has no edge, and he does not make it sharp, then he has to put out more strength; but wisdom makes things go well.
10:11		If a snake gives a bite before the word of power is said, then there is no longer any use in the word of power.
10:12		The words of a wise man's mouth are sweet to all, but the lips of a foolish man are his destruction.
10:13		The first words of his mouth are foolish, and the end of his talk is evil crime.
10:14		The foolish are full of words; man has no knowledge of what will be; and who is able to say what will be after him?
10:15		The work of the foolish will be a weariness to him, because he has no knowledge of the way to the town.
10:16		Unhappy is the land whose king is a boy, and whose rulers are feasting in the morning.
10:17		Happy is the land whose ruler is of noble birth, and whose chiefs take food at the right time, for strength and not for feasting.
10:18		When no work is done the roof goes in, and when the hands do nothing water comes into the house.
10:19		A feast is for laughing, and wine makes glad the heart; but by the one and the other money is wasted.
10:20		Say not a curse against the king, even in your thoughts; and even secretly say not a curse against the man of wealth; because a bird of the air will take the voice, and that which has wings will give news of it.

11:1		Put out your bread on the face of the waters; for after a long time it will come back to you again.
11:2		Give a part to seven or even to eight, because you have no knowledge of the evil which will be on the earth.
11:3		If the clouds are full of rain, they send it down on the earth; and if a tree comes down to the south, or the north, in whatever place it comes down, there it will be.
11:4		He who is watching the wind will not get the seed planted, and he who is looking at the clouds will not get in the grain.
11:5		As you have no knowledge of the way of the wind, or of the growth of the bones in the body of her who is with child, even so you have no knowledge of the works of God who has made all.
11:6		In the morning put your seed into the earth, and till the evening let not your hand be at rest; because you are not certain which will do well, this or that--or if the two will be equally good.
11:7		Truly the light is sweet, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.
11:8		But even if a man's life is long and he has joy in all his years, let him keep in mind the dark days, because they will be great in number. Whatever may come is to no purpose.
11:9		Have joy, O young man, while you are young; and let your heart be glad in the days of your strength, and go in the ways of your heart, and in the desire of your eyes; but be certain that for all these things God will be your judge.
11:10		So put away trouble from your heart, and sorrow from your flesh; because the early years and the best years are to no purpose.

12:1		Let your mind be turned to your Maker in the days of your strength, while the evil days come not, and the years are far away when you will say, I have no pleasure in them;
12:2		While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, are not dark, and the clouds come not back after the rain;
12:3		In the day when the keepers of the house are shaking for fear, and the strong men are bent down, and the women who were crushing the grain are at rest because their number is small, and those looking out of the windows are unable to see;
12:4		When the doors are shut in the street, and the sound of the crushing is low, and the voice of the bird is soft, and the daughters of music will be made low;
12:5		And he is in fear of that which is high, and danger is in the road, and the tree is white with flower, and the least thing is a weight, and desire is at an end, because man goes to his last resting-place, and those who are sorrowing are in the streets;
12:6		Before ever the silver cord is cut, or the vessel of gold is broken, or the pot is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the water-hole;
12:7		And the dust goes back to the earth as it was, and the spirit goes back to God who gave it.
12:8		All things are to no purpose, says the Preacher, all is to no purpose.
12:9		And because the Preacher was wise he still gave the people knowledge; searching out, testing, and putting in order a great number of wise sayings.
12:10		The Preacher made search for words which were pleasing, but his writing was in words upright and true.
12:11		The words of the wise are pointed, and sayings grouped together are like nails fixed with a hammer; they are given by one guide.
12:12		And further, my son, take note of this: of the making of books there is no end, and much learning is a weariness to the flesh.
12:13		This is the last word. All has been said. Have fear of God and keep his laws; because this is right for every man.
12:14		God will be judge of every work, with every secret thing, good or evil.

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October 29

Proverbs

1:1		The wise sayings of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.
1:2		To have knowledge of wise teaching; to be clear about the words of reason:
1:3		To be trained in the ways of wisdom, in righteousness and judging truly and straight behaviour:
1:4		To make the simple-minded sharp, and to give the young man knowledge, and serious purpose:
1:5		(The wise man, hearing, will get greater learning, and the acts of the man of good sense will be wisely guided:)
1:6		To get the sense of wise sayings and secrets, and of the words of the wise and their dark sayings.
1:7		The fear of the Lord is the start of knowledge: but the foolish have no use for wisdom and teaching.
1:8		My son, give ear to the training of your father, and do not give up the teaching of your mother:
1:9		For they will be a crown of grace for your head, and chain-ornaments about your neck.
1:10		My son, if sinners would take you out of the right way, do not go with them.
1:11		If they say, Come with us; let us make designs against the good, waiting secretly for the upright, without cause;
1:12		Let us overcome them living, like the underworld, and in their strength, as those who go down to death;
1:13		Goods of great price will be ours, our houses will be full of wealth;
1:14		Take your chance with us, and we will all have one money-bag:
1:15		My son, do not go with them; keep your feet from their ways:
1:16		For their feet are running after evil, and they are quick to take a man's life.
1:17		Truly, to no purpose is the net stretched out before the eyes of the bird:
1:18		And they are secretly waiting for their blood and making ready destruction for themselves.
1:19		Such is the fate of everyone who goes in search of profit; it takes away the life of its owners.
1:20		Wisdom is crying out in the street; her voice is loud in the open places;
1:21		Her words are sounding in the meeting-places, and in the doorways of the town:
1:22		How long, you simple ones, will foolish things be dear to you? and pride a delight to the haters of authority? how long will the foolish go on hating knowledge?
1:23		Be turned again by my sharp words: see, I will send the flow of my spirit on you, and make my words clear to you.
1:24		Because your ears were shut to my voice; no one gave attention to my out-stretched hand;
1:25		You were not controlled by my guiding, and would have nothing to do with my sharp words:
1:26		So in the day of your trouble I will be laughing; I will make sport of your fear;
1:27		When your fear comes on you like a storm, and your trouble like a rushing wind; when pain and sorrow come on you.
1:28		Then I will give no answer to their cries; searching for me early, they will not see me:
1:29		For they were haters of knowledge, and did not give their hearts to the fear of the Lord:
1:30		They had no desire for my teaching, and my words of protest were as nothing to them.
1:31		So the fruit of their way will be their food, and with the designs of their hearts they will be made full.
1:32		For the turning back of the simple from teaching will be the cause of their death, and the peace of the foolish will be their destruction.
1:33		But whoever gives ear to me will take his rest safely, living in peace without fear of evil.

2:1		My son, if you will take my words to your heart, storing up my laws in your mind;
2:2		So that your ear gives attention to wisdom, and your heart is turned to knowledge;
2:3		Truly, if you are crying out for good sense, and your request is for knowledge;
2:4		If you are looking for her as for silver, and searching for her as for stored-up wealth;
2:5		Then the fear of the Lord will be clear to you, and knowledge of God will be yours.
2:6		For the Lord gives wisdom; out of his mouth come knowledge and reason:
2:7		He has salvation stored up for the upright, he is a breastplate to those in whom there is no evil;
2:8		He keeps watch on the ways which are right, and takes care of those who have the fear of him.
2:9		Then you will have knowledge of righteousness and right acting, and upright behaviour, even of every good way.
2:10		For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasing to your soul;
2:11		Wise purposes will be watching over you, and knowledge will keep you;
2:12		Giving you salvation from the evil man, from those whose words are false;
2:13		Who give up the way of righteousness, to go by dark roads;
2:14		Who take pleasure in wrongdoing, and have joy in the evil designs of the sinner;
2:15		Whose ways are not straight, and whose footsteps are turned to evil:
2:16		To take you out of the power of the strange woman, who says smooth words with her tongue;
2:17		Who is false to the husband of her early years, and does not keep the agreement of her God in mind:
2:18		For her house is on the way down to death; her footsteps go down to the shades:
2:19		Those who go to her do not come back again; their feet do not keep in the ways of life:
2:20		So that you may go in the way of good men, and keep in the footsteps of the upright.
2:21		For the upright will be living in the land, and the good will have it for their heritage.
2:22		But sinners will be cut off from the land, and those whose acts are false will be uprooted.

3:1		My son, keep my teaching in your memory, and my rules in your heart:
3:2		For they will give you increase of days, years of life, and peace.
3:3		Let not mercy and good faith go from you; let them be hanging round your neck, recorded on your heart;
3:4		So you will have grace and a good name in the eyes of God and men.
3:5		Put all your hope in God, not looking to your reason for support.
3:6		In all your ways give ear to him, and he will make straight your footsteps.
3:7		Put no high value on your wisdom: let the fear of the Lord be before you, and keep yourself from evil:
3:8		This will give strength to your flesh, and new life to your bones.
3:9		Give honour to the Lord with your wealth, and with the first-fruits of all your increase:
3:10		So your store-houses will be full of grain, and your vessels overflowing with new wine.
3:11		My son, do not make your heart hard against the Lord's teaching; do not be made angry by his training:
3:12		For to those who are dear to him the Lord says sharp words, and makes the son in whom he has delight undergo pain.
3:13		Happy is the man who makes discovery of wisdom, and he who gets knowledge.
3:14		For trading in it is better than trading in silver, and its profit greater than bright gold.
3:15		She is of more value than jewels, and nothing for which you may have a desire is fair in comparison with her.
3:16		Long life is in her right hand, and in her left are wealth and honour.
3:17		Her ways are ways of delight, and all her goings are peace.
3:18		She is a tree of life to all who take her in their hands, and happy is everyone who keeps her.
3:19		The Lord by wisdom put in position the bases of the earth; by reason he put the heavens in their place.
3:20		By his knowledge the deep was parted, and dew came dropping from the skies.
3:21		My son, keep good sense, and do not let wise purpose go from your eyes.
3:22		So they will be life for your soul, and grace for your neck.
3:23		Then you will go safely on your way, and your feet will have no cause for slipping.
3:24		When you take your rest you will have no fear, and on your bed sleep will be sweet to you.
3:25		Have no fear of sudden danger, or of the storm which will come on evil-doers:
3:26		For the Lord will be your hope, and will keep your foot from being taken in the net.
3:27		Do not keep back good from those who have a right to it, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.
3:28		Say not to your neighbour, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when you have it by you at the time.
3:29		Do not make evil designs against your neighbour, when he is living with you without fear.
3:30		Do not take up a cause at law against a man for nothing, if he has done you no wrong.
3:31		Have no envy of the violent man, or take any of his ways as an example.
3:32		For the wrong-hearted man is hated by the Lord, but he is a friend to the upright.
3:33		The curse of the Lord is on the house of the evil-doer, but his blessing is on the tent of the upright.
3:34		He makes sport of the men of pride, but he gives grace to the gentle-hearted.
3:35		The wise will have glory for their heritage, but shame will be the reward of the foolish.

4:1		Give ear, my sons, to the teaching of a father; give attention so that you may have knowledge:
4:2		For I give you good teaching; do not give up the knowledge you are getting from me.
4:3		For I was a son to my father, a gentle and an only one to my mother.
4:4		And he gave me teaching, saying to me, Keep my words in your heart; keep my rules so that you may have life:
4:5		Get wisdom, get true knowledge; keep it in memory, do not be turned away from the words of my mouth.
4:6		Do not give her up, and she will keep you; give her your love, and she will make you safe.
4:7		The first sign of wisdom is to get wisdom; go, give all you have to get true knowledge.
4:8		Put her in a high place, and you will be lifted up by her; she will give you honour, when you give her your love.
4:9		She will put a crown of grace on your head, giving you a head-dress of glory.
4:10		Give ear, O my son, and let your heart be open to my sayings; and long life will be yours.
4:11		I have given you teaching in the way of wisdom, guiding your steps in the straight way.
4:12		When you go, your way will not be narrow, and in running you will not have a fall.
4:13		Take learning in your hands, do not let her go: keep her, for she is your life.
4:14		Do not go in the road of sinners, or be walking in the way of evil men.
4:15		Keep far from it, do not go near; be turned from it, and go on your way.
4:16		For they take no rest till they have done evil; their sleep is taken away if they have not been the cause of someone's fall.
4:17		The bread of evil-doing is their food, the wine of violent acts their drink.
4:18		But the way of the upright is like the light of early morning, getting brighter and brighter till the full day.
4:19		The way of sinners is dark; they see not the cause of their fall.
4:20		My son, give attention to my words; let your ear be turned to my sayings.
4:21		Let them not go from your eyes; keep them deep in your heart.
4:22		For they are life to him who gets them, and strength to all his flesh.
4:23		And keep watch over your heart with all care; so you will have life.
4:24		Put away from you an evil tongue, and let false lips be far from you.
4:25		Keep your eyes on what is in front of you, looking straight before you.
4:26		Keep a watch on your behaviour; let all your ways be rightly ordered.
4:27		Let there be no turning to the right or to the left, keep your feet from evil.

5:1		My son, give attention to my wisdom; let your ear be turned to my teaching:
5:2		So that you may be ruled by a wise purpose, and your lips may keep knowledge.
5:3		For honey is dropping from the lips of the strange woman, and her mouth is smoother than oil;
5:4		But her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edged sword;
5:5		Her feet go down to death, and her steps to the underworld;
5:6		She never keeps her mind on the road of life; her ways are uncertain, she has no knowledge.
5:7		Give ear to me then, my sons, and do not put away my words from you.
5:8		Go far away from her, do not come near the door of her house;
5:9		For fear that you may give your honour to others, and your wealth to strange men:
5:10		And strange men may be full of your wealth, and the fruit of your work go to the house of others;
5:11		And you will be full of grief at the end of your life, when your flesh and your body are wasted;
5:12		And you will say, How was teaching hated by me, and my heart put no value on training;
5:13		I did not give attention to the voice of my teachers, my ear was not turned to those who were guiding me!
5:14		I was in almost all evil in the company of the people.
5:15		Let water from your store and not that of others be your drink, and running water from your fountain.
5:16		Let not your springs be flowing in the streets, or your streams of water in the open places.
5:17		Let them be for yourself only, not for other men with you.
5:18		Let blessing be on your fountain; have joy in the wife of your early years.
5:19		As a loving hind and a gentle doe, let her breasts ever give you rapture; let your passion at all times be moved by her love.
5:20		Why let yourself, my son, go out of the way with a strange woman, and take another woman in your arms?
5:21		For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he puts all his goings in the scales.
5:22		The evil-doer will be taken in the net of his crimes, and prisoned in the cords of his sin.
5:23		He will come to his end for need of teaching; he is so foolish that he will go wandering from the right way.

6:1		My son, if you have made yourself responsible for your neighbour, or given your word for another,
6:2		You are taken as in a net by the words of your mouth, the sayings of your lips have overcome you.
6:3		Do this, my son, and make yourself free, because you have come into the power of your neighbour; go without waiting, and make a strong request to your neighbour.
6:4		Give no sleep to your eyes, or rest to them;
6:5		Make yourself free, like the roe from the hand of the archer, and the bird from him who puts a net for her.
6:6		Go to the ant, you hater of work; give thought to her ways and be wise:
6:7		Having no chief, overseer, or ruler,
6:8		She gets her meat in the summer, storing up food at the time of the grain-cutting.
6:9		How long will you be sleeping, O hater of work? when will you get up from your sleep?
6:10		A little sleep, a little rest, a little folding of the hands in sleep:
6:11		Then loss will come on you like an outlaw, and your need like an armed man
6:12		A good-for-nothing man is an evil-doer; he goes on his way causing trouble with false words;
6:13		Making signs with his eyes, rubbing with his feet, and giving news with his fingers;
6:14		His mind is ever designing evil: he lets loose violent acts.
6:15		For this cause his downfall will be sudden; quickly he will be broken, and there will be no help for him.
6:16		Six things are hated by the Lord; seven things are disgusting to him:
6:17		Eyes of pride, a false tongue, hands which take life without cause;
6:18		A heart full of evil designs, feet which are quick in running after sin;
6:19		A false witness, breathing out untrue words, and one who lets loose violent acts among brothers.
6:20		My son, keep the rule of your father, and have in memory the teaching of your mother:
6:21		Keep them ever folded in your heart, and have them hanging round your neck.
6:22		In your walking, it will be your guide; when you are sleeping, it will keep watch over you; when you are awake, it will have talk with you.
6:23		For the rule is a light, and the teaching a shining light; and the guiding words of training are the way of life.
6:24		They will keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the strange woman.
6:25		Let not your heart's desire go after her fair body; let not her eyes take you prisoner.
6:26		For a loose woman is looking for a cake of bread, but another man's wife goes after one's very life.
6:27		May a man take fire to his breast without burning his clothing?
6:28		Or may one go on lighted coals, and his feet not be burned?
6:29		So it is with him who goes in to his neighbour's wife; he who has anything to do with her will not go free from punishment.
6:30		Men do not have a low opinion of a thief who takes food when he is in need of it:
6:31		But if he is taken in the act he will have to give back seven times as much, giving up all his property which is in his house.
6:32		He who takes another man's wife is without all sense: he who does it is the cause of destruction to his soul.
6:33		Wounds will be his and loss of honour, and his shame may not be washed away.
6:34		For bitter is the wrath of an angry husband; in the day of punishment he will have no mercy.
6:35		He will not take any payment; and he will not make peace with you though your money offerings are increased.

7:1		My son, keep my sayings, and let my rules be stored up with you.
7:2		Keep my rules and you will have life; let my teaching be to you as the light of your eyes;
7:3		Let them be fixed to your fingers, and recorded in your heart.
7:4		Say to wisdom, You are my sister; let knowledge be named your special friend:
7:5		So that they may keep you from the strange woman, even from her whose words are smooth.
7:6		Looking out from my house, and watching through the window,
7:7		I saw among the young men one without sense,
7:8		Walking in the street near the turn of her road, going on the way to her house,
7:9		At nightfall, in the evening of the day, in the black dark of the night.
7:10		And the woman came out to him, in the dress of a loose woman, with a designing heart;
7:11		She is full of noise and uncontrolled; her feet keep not in her house.
7:12		Now she is in the street, now in the open spaces, waiting at every turning of the road.
7:13		So she took him by his hand, kissing him, and without a sign of shame she said to him:
7:14		I have a feast of peace-offerings, for today my oaths have been effected.
7:15		So I came out in the hope of meeting you, looking for you with care, and now I have you.
7:16		My bed is covered with cushions of needlework, with coloured cloths of the cotton thread of Egypt;
7:17		I have made my bed sweet with perfumes and spices.
7:18		Come, let us take our pleasure in love till the morning, having joy in love's delights.
7:19		For the master of the house is away on a long journey:
7:20		He has taken a bag of money with him; he is coming back at the full moon.
7:21		With her fair words she overcame him, forcing him with her smooth lips.
7:22		The simple man goes after her, like an ox going to its death, like a roe pulled by a cord;
7:23		Like a bird falling into a net; with no thought that his life is in danger, till an arrow goes into his side.
7:24		So now, my sons, give ear to me; give attention to the sayings of my mouth;
7:25		Let not your heart be turned to her ways, do not go wandering in her footsteps.
7:26		For those wounded and made low by her are great in number; and all those who have come to their death through her are a great army.
7:27		Her house is the way to the underworld, going down to the rooms of death.

8:1		Is not wisdom crying out, and the voice of knowledge sounding?
8:2		At the top of the highways, at the meeting of the roads, she takes her place;
8:3		Where the roads go into the town her cry goes out, at the doorways her voice is loud:
8:4		I am crying out to you, O men; my voice comes to the sons of men.
8:5		Become expert in reason, O you simple ones; you foolish ones, take training to heart.
8:6		Give ear, for my words are true, and my lips are open to give out what is upright.
8:7		For good faith goes out of my mouth, and false lips are disgusting to me.
8:8		All the words of my mouth are righteousness; there is nothing false or twisted in them.
8:9		They are all true to him whose mind is awake, and straightforward to those who get knowledge.
8:10		Take my teaching, and not silver; get knowledge in place of the best gold.
8:11		For wisdom is better than jewels, and all things which may be desired are nothing in comparison with her.
8:12		I, wisdom, have made wise behaviour my near relation; I am seen to be the special friend of wise purposes.
8:13		The fear of the Lord is seen in hating evil: pride, a high opinion of oneself, the evil way, and the false tongue, are unpleasing to me.
8:14		Wise design and good sense are mine; reason and strength are mine.
8:15		Through me kings have their power, and rulers give right decisions.
8:16		Through me chiefs have authority, and the noble ones are judging in righteousness.
8:17		Those who have given me their love are loved by me, and those who make search for me with care will get me.
8:18		Wealth and honour are in my hands, even wealth without equal and righteousness.
8:19		My fruit is better than gold, even than the best gold; and my increase is more to be desired than silver.
8:20		I go in the road of righteousness, in the way of right judging:
8:21		So that I may give my lovers wealth for their heritage, making their store-houses full.
8:22		The Lord made me as the start of his way, the first of his works in the past.
8:23		From eternal days I was given my place, from the birth of time, before the earth was.
8:24		When there was no deep I was given birth, when there were no fountains flowing with water.
8:25		Before the mountains were put in their places, before the hills was my birth:
8:26		When he had not made the earth or the fields or the dust of the world.
8:27		When he made ready the heavens I was there: when he put an arch over the face of the deep:
8:28		When he made strong the skies overhead: when the fountains of the deep were fixed:
8:29		When he put a limit to the sea, so that the waters might not go against his word: when he put in position the bases of the earth:
8:30		Then I was by his side, as a master workman: and I was his delight from day to day, playing before him at all times;
8:31		Playing in his earth; and my delight was with the sons of men.
8:32		Give ear to me then, my sons: for happy are those who keep my ways.
8:33		Take my teaching and be wise; do not let it go.
8:34		Happy is the man who gives ear to me, watching at my doors day by day, keeping his place by the pillars of my house.
8:35		For whoever gets me gets life, and grace from the Lord will come to him.
8:36		But he who does evil to me, does wrong to his soul: all my haters are in love with death.

9:1		Wisdom has made her house, putting up her seven pillars.
9:2		She has put her fat beasts to death; her wine is mixed, her table is ready.
9:3		She has sent out her women-servants; her voice goes out to the highest places of the town, saying,
9:4		Whoever is simple, let him come in here; and to him who has no sense, she says:
9:5		Come, take of my bread, and of my wine which is mixed.
9:6		Give up the simple ones and have life, and go in the way of knowledge.
9:7		He who gives teaching to a man of pride gets shame for himself; he who says sharp words to a sinner gets a bad name.
9:8		Do not say sharp words to a man of pride, or he will have hate for you; make them clear to a wise man, and you will be dear to him.
9:9		Give teaching to a wise man, and he will become wiser; give training to an upright man, and his learning will be increased.
9:10		The fear of the Lord is the start of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One gives a wise mind
9:11		For by me your days will be increased, and the years of your life will be long.
9:12		If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if your heart is full of pride, you only will have the pain of it.
9:13		The foolish woman is full of noise; she has no sense at all.
9:14		Seated at the door of her house, in the high places of the town,
9:15		Crying out to those who go by, going straight on their way, she says:
9:16		Whoever is simple, let him come in here: and to him who is without sense, she says:
9:17		Drink taken without right is sweet, and food in secret is pleasing.
9:18		But he does not see that the dead are there, that her guests are in the deep places of the underworld.

10:1		A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.
10:2		Wealth which comes from sin is of no profit, but righteousness gives salvation from death.
10:3		The Lord will not let the upright be in need of food, but he puts far from him the desire of the evil-doers.
10:4		He who is slow in his work becomes poor, but the hand of the ready worker gets in wealth.
10:5		He who in summer gets together his store is a son who does wisely; but he who takes his rest when the grain is being cut is a son causing shame.
10:6		Blessings are on the head of the upright, but the face of sinners will be covered with sorrow.
10:7		The memory of the upright is a blessing, but the name of the evil-doer will be turned to dust.
10:8		The wise-hearted man will let himself be ruled, but the man whose talk is foolish will have a fall.
10:9		He whose ways are upright will go safely, but he whose ways are twisted will be made low.
10:10		He who makes signs with his eyes is a cause of trouble, but he who makes a man see his errors is a cause of peace.
10:11		The mouth of the upright man is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the evil-doer is a bitter cup.
10:12		Hate is a cause of violent acts, but all errors are covered up by love.
10:13		In the lips of him who has knowledge wisdom is seen; but a rod is ready for the back of him who is without sense.
10:14		Knowledge is stored up by the wise, but the mouth of the foolish man is a destruction which is near.
10:15		The property of the man of wealth is his strong town: the poor man's need is his destruction.
10:16		The work of the upright gives life: the increase of the evil-doer is a cause of sin.
10:17		He who takes note of teaching is a way of life, but he who gives up training is a cause of error.
10:18		Hate is covered up by the lips of the upright man, but he who lets out evil about another is foolish.
10:19		Where there is much talk there will be no end to sin, but he who keeps his mouth shut does wisely.
10:20		The tongue of the upright man is like tested silver: the heart of the evil-doer is of little value.
10:21		The lips of the upright man give food to men, but the foolish come to death for need of sense.
10:22		The blessing of the Lord gives wealth: hard work makes it no greater.
10:23		It is sport to the foolish man to do evil, but the man of good sense takes delight in wisdom.
10:24		The thing feared by the evil-doer will come to him, but the upright man will get his desire.
10:25		When the storm-wind is past, the sinner is seen no longer, but the upright man is safe for ever.
10:26		Like acid drink to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, so is the hater of work to those who send him.
10:27		The fear of the Lord gives long life, but the years of the evil-doer will be cut short.
10:28		The hope of the upright man will give joy, but the waiting of the evil-doer will have its end in sorrow.
10:29		The way of the Lord is a strong tower for the upright man, but destruction to the workers of evil.
10:30		The upright man will never be moved, but evil-doers will not have a safe resting-place in the land.
10:31		The mouth of the upright man is budding with wisdom, but the twisted tongue will be cut off.
10:32		The lips of the upright man have knowledge of what is pleasing, but twisted are the mouths of evil-doers.

11:1		Scales of deceit are hated by the Lord, but a true weight is his delight.
11:2		When pride comes, there comes shame, but wisdom is with the quiet in spirit.
11:3		The righteousness of the upright will be their guide, but the twisted ways of the false will be their destruction.
11:4		Wealth is of no profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness keeps a man safe from death.
11:5		The righteousness of the good man will make his way straight, but the sin of the evil-doer will be the cause of his fall.
11:6		The righteousness of the upright will be their salvation, but the false will themselves be taken in their evil designs.
11:7		At the death of an upright man his hope does not come to an end, but the hope of the evil-doer comes to destruction.
11:8		The upright man is taken out of trouble, and in his place comes the sinner.
11:9		With his mouth the evil man sends destruction on his neighbour; but through knowledge the upright are taken out of trouble.
11:10		When things go well for the upright man, all the town is glad; at the death of sinners, there are cries of joy.
11:11		By the blessing of the upright man the town is made great, but it is overturned by the mouth of the evil-doer.
11:12		He who has a poor opinion of his neighbour has no sense, but a wise man keeps quiet.
11:13		He who goes about talking of others makes secrets public, but the true-hearted man keeps things covered.
11:14		When there is no helping suggestion the people will have a fall, but with a number of wise guides they will be safe.
11:15		He who makes himself responsible for a strange man will undergo much loss; but the hater of such undertakings will be safe.
11:16		A woman who is full of grace is honoured, but a woman hating righteousness is a seat of shame: those hating work will undergo loss, but the strong keep their wealth.
11:17		The man who has mercy will be rewarded, but the cruel man is the cause of trouble to himself.
11:18		The sinner gets the payment of deceit; but his reward is certain who puts in the seed of righteousness.
11:19		So righteousness gives life; but he who goes after evil gets death for himself.
11:20		The uncontrolled are hated by the Lord, but those whose ways are without error are his delight
11:21		Certainly the evil-doer will not go free from punishment, but the seed of the upright man will be safe.
11:22		Like a ring of gold in the nose of a pig, is a beautiful woman who has no sense.
11:23		The desire of the upright man is only for good, but wrath is waiting for the evil-doer.
11:24		A man may give freely, and still his wealth will be increased; and another may keep back more than is right, but only comes to be in need.
11:25		He who gives blessing will be made fat, but the curser will himself be cursed.
11:26		He who keeps back grain will be cursed by the people; but a blessing will be on the head of him who lets them have it for a price.
11:27		He who, with all his heart, goes after what is good is searching for grace; but he who is looking for trouble will get it.
11:28		He who puts his faith in wealth will come to nothing; but the upright man will be full of growth like the green leaf.
11:29		The troubler of his house will have the wind for his heritage, and the foolish will be servant to the wise-hearted.
11:30		The fruit of righteousness is a tree of life, but violent behaviour takes away souls.
11:31		If the upright man is rewarded on earth, how much more the evil-doer and the sinner!

12:1		A lover of training is a lover of knowledge; but a hater of teaching is like a beast.
12:2		A good man has grace in the eyes of the Lord; but the man of evil designs gets punishment from him.
12:3		No man will make himself safe through evil-doing; but the root of upright men will never be moved.
12:4		A woman of virtue is a crown to her husband; but she whose behaviour is a cause of shame is like a wasting disease in his bones.
12:5		The purposes of upright men are right, but the designs of evil-doers are deceit.
12:6		The words of sinners are destruction for the upright; but the mouth of upright men is their salvation.
12:7		Evil-doers are overturned and never seen again, but the house of upright men will keep its place.
12:8		A man will be praised in the measure of his wisdom, but a wrong-minded man will be looked down on.
12:9		He who is of low position and has a servant, is better than one who has a high opinion of himself and is in need of bread.
12:10		An upright man has thought for the life of his beast, but the hearts of evil-doers are cruel.
12:11		He who does work on his land will not be short of bread; but he who goes after foolish men is without sense.
12:12		The resting-place of the sinner will come to destruction, but the root of upright men is for ever.
12:13		In the sin of the lips is a net which takes the sinner, but the upright man will come out of trouble.
12:14		From the fruit of his mouth will a man have good food in full measure, and the work of a man's hands will be rewarded.
12:15		The way of the foolish man seems right to him? but the wise man gives ear to suggestions.
12:16		A foolish man lets his trouble be openly seen, but a sharp man keeps shame secret.
12:17		The breathing out of true words gives knowledge of righteousness; but a false witness gives out deceit.
12:18		There are some whose uncontrolled talk is like the wounds of a sword, but the tongue of the wise makes one well again.
12:19		True lips are certain for ever, but a false tongue is only for a minute.
12:20		Deceit is in the heart of those whose designs are evil, but for those purposing peace there is joy.
12:21		No trouble will come to upright men, but sinners will be full of evil.
12:22		False lips are hated by the Lord, but those whose acts are true are his delight.
12:23		A sharp man keeps back his knowledge; but the heart of foolish men makes clear their foolish thoughts.
12:24		The hand of the ready worker will have authority, but he who is slow in his work will be put to forced work.
12:25		Care in the heart of a man makes it weighted down, but a good word makes it glad.
12:26		The upright man is a guide to his neighbour, but the way of evil-doers is a cause of error to them.
12:27		He who is slow in his work does not go in search of food; but the ready worker gets much wealth.
12:28		In the road of righteousness is life, but the way of the evil-doer goes to death.

13:1		A wise son is a lover of teaching, but the ears of the haters of authority are shut to sharp words.
13:2		A man will get good from the fruit of his lips, but the desire of the false is for violent acts.
13:3		He who keeps a watch on his mouth keeps his life; but he whose lips are open wide will have destruction.
13:4		The hater of work does not get his desires, but the soul of the hard workers will be made fat.
13:5		The upright man is a hater of false words: the evil-doer gets a bad name and is put to shame.
13:6		Righteousness keeps safe him whose way is without error, but evil-doers are overturned by sin.
13:7		A man may be acting as if he had wealth, but have nothing; another may seem poor, but have great wealth.
13:8		A man will give his wealth in exchange for his life; but the poor will not give ear to sharp words.
13:9		There is a glad dawn for the upright man, but the light of the sinner will be put out.
13:10		The only effect of pride is fighting; but wisdom is with the quiet in spirit.
13:11		Wealth quickly got will become less; but he who gets a store by the work of his hands will have it increased.
13:12		Hope put off is a weariness to the heart; but when what is desired comes, it is a tree of life.
13:13		He who makes sport of the word will come to destruction, but the respecter of the law will be rewarded.
13:14		The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning men away from the nets of death.
13:15		Wise behaviour gets approval, but the way of the false is their destruction.
13:16		A sharp man does everything with knowledge, but a foolish man makes clear his foolish thoughts.
13:17		A man taking false news is a cause of trouble, but he who gives news rightly makes things well.
13:18		Need and shame will be the fate of him who is uncontrolled by training; but he who takes note of teaching will be honoured.
13:19		To get one's desire is sweet to the soul, but to give up evil is disgusting to the foolish.
13:20		Go with wise men and be wise: but he who keeps company with the foolish will be broken.
13:21		Evil will overtake sinners, but the upright will be rewarded with good.
13:22		The heritage of the good man is handed down to his children's children; and the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the upright man.
13:23		There is much food in the ploughed land of the poor; but it is taken away by wrongdoing.
13:24		He who keeps back his rod is unkind to his son: the loving father gives punishment with care.
13:25		The upright man has food to the full measure of his desire, but there will be no food for the stomach of evil-doers.

14:1		Wisdom is building her house, but the foolish woman is pulling it down with her hands.
14:2		He who goes on his way in righteousness has before him the fear of the Lord; but he whose ways are twisted gives him no honour.
14:3		In the mouth of the foolish man is a rod for his back, but the lips of the wise will keep them safe.
14:4		Where there are no oxen, their food-place is clean; but much increase comes through the strength of the ox.
14:5		A true witness does not say what is false, but a false witness is breathing out deceit.
14:6		The hater of authority, searching for wisdom, does not get it; but knowledge comes readily to the open-minded man.
14:7		Go away from the foolish man, for you will not see the lips of knowledge.
14:8		The wisdom of the man of good sense makes his way clear; but the unwise behaviour of the foolish is deceit.
14:9		In the tents of those hating authority there is error, but in the house of the upright man there is grace.
14:10		No one has knowledge of a man's grief but himself; and a strange person has no part in his joy.
14:11		The house of the sinner will be overturned, but the tent of the upright man will do well.
14:12		There is a way which seems straight before a man, but its end is the ways of death.
14:13		Even while laughing the heart may be sad; and after joy comes sorrow.
14:14		He whose heart is turned away will have the reward of his ways in full measure; but a good man will have the reward of his doings.
14:15		The simple man has faith in every word, but the man of good sense gives thought to his footsteps.
14:16		The wise man, fearing, keeps himself from evil; but the foolish man goes on in his pride, with no thought of danger.
14:17		He who is quickly angry will do what is foolish, but the man of good sense will have quiet.
14:18		Foolish behaviour is the heritage of the simple, but men of good sense are crowned with knowledge.
14:19		The knees of the evil are bent before the good; and sinners go down in the dust at the doors of the upright.
14:20		The poor man is hated even by his neighbour, but the man of wealth has numbers of friends.
14:21		He who has no respect for his neighbour is a sinner, but he who has pity for the poor is happy.
14:22		Will not the designers of evil come into error? But mercy and good faith are for the designers of good.
14:23		In all hard work there is profit, but talk only makes a man poor.
14:24		Their wisdom is a crown to the wise, but their foolish behaviour is round the head of the unwise.
14:25		A true witness is the saviour of lives; but he who says false things is a cause of deceit.
14:26		For him in whose heart is the fear of the Lord there is strong hope: and his children will have a safe place.
14:27		The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, by which one may be turned from the nets of death.
14:28		A king's glory is in the number of his people: and for need of people a ruler may come to destruction.
14:29		He who is slow to be angry has great good sense; but he whose spirit is over-quick gives support to what is foolish.
14:30		A quiet mind is the life of the body, but envy is a disease in the bones.
14:31		He who is hard on the poor puts shame on his Maker; but he who has mercy on those who are in need gives him honour.
14:32		The sinner is overturned in his evil-doing, but the upright man has hope in his righteousness.
14:33		Wisdom has her resting-place in the mind of the wise, but she is not seen among the foolish.
14:34		By righteousness a nation is lifted up, but sin is a cause of shame to the peoples.
14:35		The king has pleasure in a servant who does wisely, but his wrath is against him who is a cause of shame.

15:1		By a soft answer wrath is turned away, but a bitter word is a cause of angry feelings.
15:2		Knowledge is dropping from the tongue of the wise; but from the mouth of the foolish comes a stream of foolish words.
15:3		The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
15:4		A comforting tongue is a tree of life, but a twisted tongue is a crushing of the spirit.
15:5		A foolish man puts no value on his father's training; but he who has respect for teaching has good sense.
15:6		In the house of the upright man there is a great store of wealth; but in the profits of the sinner there is trouble.
15:7		The lips of the wise keep knowledge, but the heart of the foolish man is not right.
15:8		The offering of the evil-doer is disgusting to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright man is his delight.
15:9		The way of the evil-doer is disgusting to the Lord, but he who goes after righteousness is dear to him.
15:10		There is bitter punishment for him who is turned from the way; and death will be the fate of the hater of teaching.
15:11		Before the Lord are the underworld and destruction: how much more, then, the hearts of the children of men!
15:12		The hater of authority has no love for teaching: he will not go to the wise.
15:13		A glad heart makes a shining face, but by the sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
15:14		The heart of the man of good sense goes in search of knowledge, but foolish things are the food of the unwise.
15:15		All the days of the troubled are evil; but he whose heart is glad has an unending feast.
15:16		Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great wealth together with trouble.
15:17		Better is a simple meal where love is, than a fat ox and hate with it.
15:18		An angry man makes men come to blows, but he who is slow to get angry puts an end to fighting.
15:19		Thorns are round the way of the hater of work; but the road of the hard worker becomes a highway.
15:20		A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man has no respect for his mother.
15:21		Foolish behaviour is joy to the unwise; but a man of good sense makes his way straight.
15:22		Where there are no wise suggestions, purposes come to nothing; but by a number of wise guides they are made certain.
15:23		A man has joy in the answer of his mouth: and a word at the right time, how good it is!
15:24		Acting wisely is the way of life, guiding a man away from the underworld.
15:25		The house of the man of pride will be uprooted by the Lord, but he will make safe the heritage of the widow.
15:26		Evil designs are disgusting to the Lord, but the words of the clean-hearted are pleasing.
15:27		He whose desires are fixed on profit is a cause of trouble to his family; but he who has no desire for offerings will have life.
15:28		The heart of the upright gives thought to his answer; but from the mouth of the evil-doer comes a stream of evil things.
15:29		The Lord is far from sinners, but his ear is open to the prayer of the upright.
15:30		The light of the eyes is a joy to the heart, and good news makes the bones fat.
15:31		The man whose ear is open to the teaching of life will have his place among the wise.
15:32		He who will not be controlled by training has no respect for his soul, but he who gives ear to teaching will get wisdom.
15:33		The fear of the Lord is the teaching of wisdom; and a low opinion of oneself goes before honour.

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October 19

The Lion Pose - Simha-asana

The Lion Pose - Simha-asana

The Sanskrit word simha which literally means "the powerful one" is the word for "lion." This, therefore is known as the lion posture, and one performing it can be said to resemble a roaring lion about to attack.

"Place the two heels under the perineum with soles turned upwards; hands to rest on the knees which should touch the ground. Open your mouth as you perform the jalandhara-mudra (chin lock) and fix your gaze on the root of the nose. This is Simha-asana, the destroyer of all diseases."
Hatha-yoga-pradipika I.37

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The Noble or Powerful Pose - Ugra-asana

Noble or Powerful Pose - Ugra-asana

The Sanskrit word ugra means powerful, mighty, strong or noble.

We usually keep this posture untranslated but it can be called the noble or powerful posture.

"Having stretched the feet on the ground, like a stick, and having grasped the toes of both feet with both hands, when one sits with the forehead resting on the thighs, it is called Pascimo-tana-asana" (or ugra-asana). This Pascimo-tana carries air from the front to the back part of the body. It kindles gastric fire, reduces obesity and cures all diseases of men."
Hatha-Yoga-Pradipika I.30-31

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October 13

How to make Biofuels

How to make Biofuels

Biofuel is considered to be the most pure and the easiest available fuels on the planet. Also known as agrofuel, they are classified into gas, liquid and solid form derived from biomass. Most of the people would be very happy to know that most of the forms of biofuels can be easily manufactured even at in one’s kitchen garden. One of the key features of biofuels is that they are better than other forms of fuels like petrol or diesel that is manufactured by most of the big oil manufacturing companies. Most of the diesel engines would work more efficiently and even last longer with the use of these home made biofuels. These fuels are also very clean and environment friendly. These biofuels can be a lot more economic if used in the kitchen for cooking purpose. These fuels also encourage the recycling process as most of them are manufactured from waste products.

There are various forms of biofuels and most of them are made through a detailed process having various stages. Most of the animal fats, vegetables and oils contain glycerin and are thus called triglycerides. In the process of manufacturing the biofuels, all the fats and oils are turned into esters, separating the glycerin. At the end of the process, all the glycerin sinks down at the bottom and all the biofuel rests at the top. The process through which the glycerin is separated from the biodiesel is known as transesterification. This process also uses lye as a catalyst in the whole process. Some of the chemicals which are used in the manufacturing of biofuels are ethanol or methanol which brings into use methyl esters. Methanol is derived from fossil fuels while ethanol is derived from plants. One of the advantages of using ethanol is that they can be distilled even at the home without any problem.

The process of manufacturing biofuel can be classified in the following stages. These stages are:

Filtering: In this process, waste vegetable oil is filtered to remove all the food particles. This process generally involves warming up the liquid a little. After warming up the liquid, it can be filtered with the use of coffee filter.

Removing of water: All the water contained in the residual gangue has to be removed which will make the reaction faster. The water can be easily removed by making the liquid boil at 100 degree C for sometime.

Titration: This process is carried out to determine the amount of lye that would be required. This process is the most crucial and the most important stage of biofuel manufacturing.

Preparation of sodium methoxide: In this process, methanol is mixed with sodium hydroxide to produce sodium methoxide. In most of the cases, the quantity of methanol used is generally 20 percent of waste vegetable oil.

Heating and mixing: The residue is heated in between 120 to 130 degree F after which it is mixed well. It should be remembered that process should be done carefully avoiding splashing of the liquid.

Settling and separation: After mixing the liquid, it has to be allowed to cool down. After the cooling process, the biofuel will be found floating at the top while the heavier glycerin would be found at the bottom. The glycerin can be easily separated by allowing it to drain out from the bottom. The person is left over with pure biofuel which can be used for various purposes.

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Other alternative fuels

Other alternative fuels

Biofuels are also known as non conventional fuels, alternative fuels. Alternative fuels can be classified as any fuel that is not derived from conventional sources like petroleum, coal and natural gas. The main purpose of fuel is to store the energy that can be used sometime later. Almost all forms of fuels are chemical fuels having energy in the form of chemical energy. The end use of the fuel is to release the energy that is captures by it at any time of use.

Some of the other forms of non conventional fuels are chemically stored electricity like batteries, hydrogen and various other sources. The demand of these alternative fuels came into picture when the world recognized that it has a very limited supply of fossil fuel and burning it leads to various other environmental problems like global warming. Burning conventional fuels like petroleum leads to a lot of greenhouse gas emission. Another factor of concern is the rising prices of the oil. This rise has been reported because of the shortages faced by the various countries producing conventional fuels. According to the researchers, the demand of the conventional fuel is going to surpass the supply which will make the people look for other alternative fuels. Some of the alternatives to the conventional fuels are:

Renewable energy: This is one of the best solutions to the energy crisis that is lying ahead in future. The various nations of the world have shown keen interest in tapping this form of energy which is not only environment friendly, but also economic to produce. Solar power, wind power and tidal power are some of the forms of this energy.

Non conventional oil: This is a type of fuel that is chemically quite identical to the conventional fuel. This form of oil is generally more energy intensive to be produced which is a great hindrance in their production. Some of the rich deposits of this form of oil are found in the Athabasca Oil Sands in Canada. They are also found at Venezuelan Orinoco tar sands. Most of the researchers have stated that the Orinoco and Athabasca sites have almost two thirds of the total oil deposits of the world.

Hydrogen: Most of the people say that hydrogen is the key that would solve the energy problems of the world. There have been developed many new techniques that efficiently extracts the chemical energy stored in hydrogen. The main problem with hydrogen is that there is no large deposit which promises a continuous supply. Whatever little quantity of the gas is found on the planet also resides in the upper layers of the hemisphere. Hydrogen to be brought into use should be first produced using some other form of energy which is a great threat.

Air engine: This is a relatively newer technique that uses emission free piston which uses compressed air as fuel. Compressed air is much cheaper then any other form of energy. The economy in production makes this form so energy an attractive alternative of conventional form of energy.

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Biofuel from waste

Biofuel from waste

Biofuel also called as agrofuel and is derived from biomass and may be in solid, liquid or gaseous form. The use of waste biomass to generate energy can decrease waste management problems, pollution, greenhouse gaseous emissions and the use of fossil fuels. There is a huge potential for bioenergy obtained from waste to decrease the speed of global warming. As per a recent report, by the year 2020, 19 million tons of oil equivalents could be derived from biomass. Out of this, 46% is obtained from bio-wastes like farm waste, agricultural waste, municipal solid waste and other biodegradable waste streams.

The waste buried in landfill site undergoes anaerobic digestion and generates gases. The gases so produced are called landfill gases (LFG). These gases can be burned and looked up to as a source of renewable energy. The LFG comprises of almost 50% methane, which is the same gas found in natural gas. This LFG can be used to generate electricity for public consumption or can be burned for heat.

If LFG is not used properly, it would add to the atmosphere. Methane is a greenhouse gas. It has a global warming potential of 23 relative to carbon dioxide. Thus, one ton of methane results in the same greenhouse gas as 23 tons of carbon dioxide. The formula of the burning of methane is as follows – CH₄ + 2O₂= CO₂ + 2H₂0. Thus, there are two advantages of harvesting and burning LFG. Firstly, the global warming potential is decreased by a factor of 23. Secondly, energy is provided for heat and power.

It has been discovered by Thomas Rockmann and Frank Keppler that living plants also generate methane. This methane of living plants is ten to hundred times more than that generated by dead plants in an aerobic environment. However, this methane does not raise chances of global warming due to the incorporated carbon cycle.

A separate waste management strategy is anaerobic digestion. This decreases the amount of waste sent to landfill to generate methane or biogas. In anaerobic digestion, any sort of biomass can be utilized. This waste breaks down and gives rise to methane. This methane is harvested and burned to create heat, power or to run some automotive vehicles.

The statistics related to landfill power plants are as follows – a 3 MW landfill power plant can supply power to 1900 homes. Due to this, it is possible to avoid 6000 tons of methane per year from entering the atmosphere. 18,000 tons per year of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel replacement would be eliminated.

First generation biofuels are those that are prepared from animal fats, vegetable oil, starch and sugar by the use of conventional technology. The anaerobic digestion of organic materials by anaerobes gives rise to biogas. This biogas can be produced from biodegradable waste materials. Digestate is a solid byproduct that can be used as a fertilizer or a biofuel. The biogas comprises of methane and this can be obtained from anaerobic digesters or mechanical biological treatment systems. LFG is a lesser clean form of biogas. Thermal depolymerization of waste results in the extraction of methane and other oils in a manner similar to petroleum.

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October 06

Daily Meditation

It is important to recognise the power of our emotions--and to take responsibility for them by creating a light and positive atmosphere around ourselves. This attitude of joy that we create helps alleviate states of hopelessness, loneliness, and despair. Our relationships with others thus naturally improve, and little by little the whole of society becomes more positive and balanced. - Tarthang Tulku

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. - Buddha

A man who is seeking for realisation is not only going round searching for his
spectacles without realising that they are on his nose all the time, but also
were he not actually looking through them he would not be able to see what he
is looking for! - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei

It is necessary to understand that I Am,
In order that I may know that I Am Not,
So that, at last, I may realise that,
I Am Not, therefore I Am. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei

The practice of meditation is represented by the three monkeys,
who cover their eyes, ears and mouths so as to avoid the phenomenal world.

The practice of non-meditation is ceasing to be the see-er, hearer or speaker
while eyes, ears and mouths are fulfilling their function in daily life.
Open Secret by Wei Wu Wei

One must know that one is not in order to be able to understand that we are.
- Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei

Through awareness and perseverance you can break this cycle of birth and death
and find yourself elevated to the highest. Therefore, awareness leads you
forward, while lack of awareness leads you nowhere. (Awareness, v21)

Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through love. This is an unalterable law. - Buddha

Reality alone exists - and that we are. All the rest is only a dream, a dream
of the One Mind, which is our mind without the 'our'. Is it so hard to accept?
Is it so difficult to assimilate and to live?
- Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei

Play your part in the comedy, but don't identify yourself with your role!
- Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei

Ask yourself this; 'Are you a human being having a spiritual experience, or a spiritual being having a human experience? - Wayne Dyer, PhD

The Five Precepts are:
1. Abstain from taking life,
2. Abstain from taking that which is not given,
3. Abstain from misconduct done in lust,
4. Abstain from lying,
5. Abstain from all forms of intoxication.

You are like a withered leaf, ready to crumble in death's hand,
and what preparations have you made? The time is now!
Practice, become cleansed, and be ready. (Flaws, v 235-236)

The greatest achievement is selflessness. The greatest worth is self-mastery. The greatest quality is seeking to serve others. The greatest precept is continual awareness. The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything. The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways. The greatest magic is transmuting the passions. The greatest generosity is non-attachment. The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind. The greatest patience is humility. The greatest effort is not concerned with results. The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go. The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances. - Atisha

September 26

The Entheogen Theory of Religion and Ego Death

Ego death is an experience sometimes undergone by psychonauts, mystics, shamans, monks, psychologists, and others interested in exploring the depths of the mind.
The practice of ego death as a deliberately sought "mystical experience" in some ways overlaps, but is nevertheless distinct from, traditional teachings concerning enlightenment/"Nirvana" (in Buddhism) or "Moksha" (in Hinduism), which might perhaps be better understood as transcendence of the notion that one even has any actual, non-illusory "ego" with which to experience "death" in the first place.The Entheogen Theory of Religion and Ego Death

The Entheogen Theory of Religion and Ego Death explains what is revealed in religious revelation and in enlightenment, including the nature of personal control agency.

The essence and origin of religion is the use of visionary plants to routinely trigger the intense mystic altered state, producing loose binding of cognitive associations. This loose cognitive binding then produces an experience of being controlled by frozen block-universe determinism with a single, pre-existing, ever-existing future.

Experiencing this model of control and time initially destabilizes self-control power, and amounts to the death of the self that was conceived of as an autonomous control-agent. Self-control stability is restored upon transforming one's mental model to take into account the dependence of personal control on a hidden, separate thought-source, such as Necessity or a divine level that transcends Necessity.

Myth describes this mystic-state experiential insight and transformation. Religious initiation teaches and causes this transformation of the self considered as a control-agent, through a series of visionary-plant sessions, interspersed with study of perennial philosophy. Most modern-era religion has been a distortion of this standard initiation system, reducing these concepts to a weak interpretation that is based in the ordinary state of consciousness.

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August 31

Relaxing Your Mind

"There are no secrets, there is only truth, so seek to know yourself well and to learn the things that are, that all, that is. Work to rediscover your past, let lift your inner mind, the thoughts, emotions and events that you have hidden from yourself. Take full responsibilities for your life and your actions, let the clouds of self deceptions dissipate from your mind. Find your true self, and you'll find peace, tranquility and a life full of joy and bliss. Let go, your anxieties, let go, your pre-conception and you find peace in every step you take. Any time you need guidance or advice, listen to the wisdom of the master within, ask your questions knowing and you will be answered, be silent and you will hear. Live each day completely, sleep in peace, greet each new day with joy, for you are already eternal in spirit".

July 10

rain

Rain

Listen to the pouring rain
Listen to it pour,
And with every drop of rain
You know I love you more

Let it rain all night long,
Let my love for you go strong,
As long as we're together
Who cares about the weather?

Listen to the falling rain,
Listen to it fall,
And with every drop of rain,
I can hear you call,
Call my name right out loud,
I can here above the clouds
And I'm here among the puddles,
You and I together huddle.

Listen to the falling rain,
Listen to it fall.

It's raining,
It's pouring,
The old man is snoring,
Went to bed
And bumped his head,
He couldn't get up in the morning,

Listen to the falling rain,
listen to the rain

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June 13

Four Noble Truths

Four Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths are one of the most fundamental Buddhist teachings. In broad terms, these truths relate to suffering's nature, origin, cessation and the path leading to the cessation. They are among the truths Gautama Buddha is said to have realized during his experience of enlightenment.

The Four Noble Truths appear many times throughout the most ancient Buddhist texts, the Pali Canon. Mahayana Buddhism regards these as a preliminary teaching for people not ready for its own teachings.

Strictly speaking, "truths" is a mistranslation; "realities" would be better: these are "things", not statements, in the original grammar.

Background

Why the Buddha is said to have taught in this way is illuminated by the social context of the time in which he lived. The Buddha was a Śramaṇa, a wandering ascetic whose "aim was to discover the truth and attain happiness".

He is said to have achieved this aim while under a bodhi tree near the River Neranjana; the Four Noble Truths are a formulation of his understanding of the nature of "suffering",

the fundamental cause of all suffering, the escape from suffering, and what effort a person can go to so that they themselves can "attain happiness."

These truths are not expressed as a hypothesis or tentative idea, rather the Buddha says:

“	These Four Noble Truths, monks, are actual, unerring, not otherwise. Therefore, they are called noble truths.

The Buddha says that he taught them...

“

...because it is beneficial, it belongs to the fundamentals of the holy life, it leads to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation of suffering, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nirvana. That is why I have declared it.

This teaching was the basis of the Buddha's first discourse after his enlightenment.^[8] In early Buddhism this is the most advanced teaching in the Buddha's Gradual Training.

Pali canon text

The Nature of Suffering (Dukkha):
"Now this ... is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering."
Suffering's Origin (Samudaya):
"Now this ... is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there, that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination."
Suffering's Cessation (Nirodha):
"Now this ... is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonreliance on it."
The Way (Mārga) Leading to the Cessation of Suffering:
"Now this ... is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is the Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration."

Mahayana understanding of the Four Noble Truths

Certain major Mahayana sutras, including the Mahaparinirvana Sutra and the Angulimaliya Sutra, present variant versions of the Four Noble Truths of the Buddha:

the Truth of Suffering relates to the failure to recognize the eternity of the Buddha;

the Truth of the Cause of Suffering concerns the perversion and distortion of the True Dharma (i.e. wrongly insisting that the Buddha and Dharma are impermanent);

the Truth of the Cessation of Suffering relates to the correct meditative cultivation of the tathagatagarbha (indwelling Buddha Nature in all beings) and not erroneously viewing it as non-Self and empty; cessation of suffering also arises with the elimination of inner defilements, when one can then enter into the Buddhic Essence within oneself: "When the afflictions have been eradicated, then one will perceive entry into the tathāgata-garbha";

the Truth of the Path to the Cessation of Suffering entails envisioning the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha as eternal, unshakable and indestructible. (Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, tr. by Kosho Yamamoto, ed. by Dr. Tony Page, Nirvana Publications, London, 1999-2000)

The Angulimaliya Sutra similarly emphasises the seeing and knowing of the Buddha's eternality, immutability and peace as the key factors in liberation from suffering; failure to see this eternal nature of ultimate reality is said to constitute the primary cause of beings' continued entrapment in the sufferings of samsara.

It should be noted that this view is specific to certain Mahayana schools, most notably the Tathagatagarbha and Jonangpa traditions. The ideas that the Buddha and his Dharma are eternal and that one's inner Buddhanature is not empty would be denied in other Buddhist traditions such as Madhyamaka and Zen.

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June 10

MEDITATION

Meditation

Meditation is a focusing of the mind on a single object, creating the cessation of all thought. As thoughts dissipate, the mind becomes quiet, and we are able to be fully in the present moment. The techniques of meditation are simple and easy to learn, but the ability to keep the mind focused takes time, patience and practice. The benefits of a regular meditation practice include reduction of stress, tension, anxiety and frustration, as well as improved memory, concentration, inner peace and whole body well-being.

Heart Chakra Meditation

This heart chakra meditation is a simple technique to release sadness and fear and to bring compassion and love into your life.

Sit in a comfortable position, either cross-legged on the floor or in a chair. Sit up tall with the spine straight, the shoulders relaxed and the chest open. Inhale the palms together and lightly press the knuckles of the thumbs into the sternum at the level of your heart (you should feel a little notch where the knuckles magically fit). Breathe slowly, smoothly and deeply into the belly and into the chest. Soften your gaze or lightly close the eyes. Let go of any thoughts or distractions and let the mind focus on feeling the breath move in and out of your body. Once the mind feels quiet and still, bring your focus to the light pressure of the thumbs pressing against your chest and feeling the beating of the heart. Keep this focus for one to five minutes.

Next, gently release the hands and rub the palms together, making them very warm and energized. Place the right palm in the center of your chest and the left hand on top of the right. Close the eyes and feel the center of your chest warm and radiant, full of energy. See this energy as an emerald green light, radiating out from the center of your heart into the rest of your body. Feel this energy flowing out into the arms and hands, and flowing back into the heart. Stay with this visualization for one to five minutes.

After you feel completely soaked with heart chakra energy, gently release the palms and turn them outwards with the elbows bent, the shoulders relaxed and the chest open. Feel or visualize the green light love energy flowing out of your palms and into the world. You can direct it towards specific loved ones in your life or to all sentient beings.

To end your meditation, inhale the arms up towards the sky, connecting with the heavens, then exhale and lower the palms lightly to the floor, connecting with the earth. Take a moment or two before moving on with the rest of your day.

Inner Peace Meditation

This meditation is a simple technique to reduce stress, tension and anxiety and to promote a calm and tranquil mind.

Sit in a comfortable position, either cross-legged on the floor or in a chair. Sit up tall with the spine straight, the shoulders relaxed and the chest open. Rest the hands on your knees or in your lap with the palms facing up. Relax the face, jaw, and belly. Let the tongue rest on the roof of the mouth, just behind the front teeth. Allow the eyes to lightly close.

Breathe slowly, smoothly and deeply in and out through the nose. Let the inhale start in the belly and then rise gently up into the chest. As the breath slows and deepens, let go of any thoughts or distractions and allow the mind to focus on the breath. Draw your focus deeply inside your body, to its very core, finding a place of stillness, quiet and peace. Breathe deeply into this center filling it with your awareness. Feel this place of inner peace being nourished with your breath and awareness, slowly beginning to grow and expand outwards. Feel this place of inner peace expand to fill your entire being. Feel your inner peace completely saturating your body and radiating outwards into the world.

Practice this meditation for 10-20 minutes. To end, gently let the eyes blink open, inhale the palms together in front of the heart, exhale and gently bow. Take a moment or two before moving on with the rest of your day.

Third Eye Meditation

This third eye meditation is a simple technique to focus the mind, increase concentration and improve mental clarity.

Sit in a comfortable position, either cross-legged on the floor or in a chair. Sit up tall with the spine straight, the shoulders relaxed and the chest open. Rest the hands on the knees with the palms facing up. Lightly touch the index finger to the thumb. Relax the face, jaw, and belly. Let the tongue rest on the roof of the mouth, just behind the front teeth. Allow the eyes to lightly close.

Breathe slowly, smoothly and deeply in and out through the nose. With the eyes closed, look up at the third eye, the space between the eyebrows, the sixth chakra. Focus your gaze and concentration intently on this spot, looking for a white or indigo blue light to appear. When thoughts arise in the mind, let them go and return the focus to the third eye.

Practice this meditation for 10-20 minutes. To end, inhale the palms together in front of the heart, exhale and gently bow while saying these words “May I see and perceive clearly on every level, and seek only the truth”. Gently let the eyes blink open and take a moment or two before moving on with the rest of your day.

Yoga Meditation

This smple seated meditation focuses on the breath to calm the mind, body and emotions.

Sit in a comfortable position, either cross-legged on the floor or in a chair. Sit up tall with the spine straight, the shoulders relaxed and the chest open. Rest the hands on the knees with the palms facing up. Lightly touch the index finger to the thumb. Relax the face, jaw, and belly. Let the tongue rest on the roof of the mouth, just behind the front teeth. Allow the eyes to lightly close.

Breathe slowly, smoothly and deeply in and out through the nose. Let the inhale start in the belly and then rise gently up into the chest. As the breath slows and deepens, let go of any thoughts or distractions and allow the mind to focus on the breath. Feel the breath as it moves in and out of the body, feeling it move through the nose, throat, windpipe and lungs. Feel the body as it rises and falls with each breath. Bring as much of your awareness and attention to your body and breath as possible with each moment. As the thoughts return to the mind, let them go, and return the focus back to the body and breath.

Practice this meditation for 10-20 minutes. To end, gently let the eyes blink open, inhale the palms together in front of the heart, exhale and gently bow. Take a moment or two before moving on with the rest of your day.

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December 01

Should we worry about soya in our food?

Whether you know it or not, you'll probably be eating soya today. It's in 60% of all processed food, from cheese to ice cream, baby formula to biscuits. But should it carry a health warning? Felicity Lawrence investigates

Tuesday July 25, 2006
The Guardian

Harvested, unprocessed soya beans

For Dr Mike Fitzpatrick, the saga of soya began in Monty Python-style with a dead parrot. His investigations into the ubiquitous bean started in 1991 when Richard James, a multimillionaire American lawyer, turned up at the laboratory in New Zealand where Fitzpatrick was working as a consultant toxicologist. James was sure that soya beans were killing his rare birds.

"We thought he was mad, but he had a lot of money and wanted us to find out what was going on," Fitzpatrick recalls.

Over the next months, Fitzpatrick carried out an exhaustive study of soya and its effects. "We discovered quite quickly," he recalls, "that soya contains toxins and plant oestrogens powerful enough to disrupt women's menstrual cycles in experiments. It also appeared damaging to the thyroid." James's lobbying eventually forced governments to investigate. In 2002, the British government's expert committee on the toxicity of food (CoT) published the results of its inquiry into the safety of plant oestrogens, mainly from soya proteins, in modern food. It concluded that in general the health benefits claimed for soya were not supported by clear evidence and judged that there could be risks from high levels of consumption for certain age groups. Yet little has happened to curb soya's growth since.

More than 60% of all processed food in Britain today contains soya in some form, according to food industry estimates. It is in breakfast cereals, cereal bars and biscuits, cheeses, cakes, dairy desserts, gravies, noodles, pastries, soups, sausage casings, sauces and sandwich spreads. Soya, crushed, separated and refined into its different parts, can appear on food labels as soya flour, hydrolysed vegetable protein, soy protein isolate, protein concentrate, textured vegetable protein, vegetable oil (simple, fully, or partially hydrogenated), plant sterols, or the emulsifier lecithin. Its many guises hint at its value to manufacturers.

Soya increases the protein content of processed meat products. It replaces them altogether in vegetarian foods. It stops industrial breads shrinking. It makes cakes hold on to their water. It helps manufacturers mix water into oil. Hydrogenated, its oil is used to deep-fry fast food.

Soya is also in cat food and dog food. But above all it is used in agricultural feeds for intensive chicken, beef, dairy, pig and fish farming. Soya protein - which accounts for 35% of the raw bean - is what has made the global factory farming of livestock for cheap meat a possibility. Soya oil - high in omega 6 fatty acids and 18% of the whole bean - has meanwhile driven the postwar explosion in snack foods around the world. Crisps, confectionery, deep-fried take-aways, ready meals, ice-creams, mayonnaise and margarines all make liberal use of it. Its widespread presence is one of the reasons our balance of omega 3 to omega 6 essential fatty acids is so out of kilter.

You may think that when you order a skinny soya latte, you are choosing a commodity blessed with an unadulterated aura of health. But soya today is in fact associated with patterns of food consumption that have been linked to diet-related diseases. And 50 years ago it was not eaten in the west in any quantity.

In 1965, the earliest year for which the Chicago Board of Trade keeps figures, global soya bean production was just 30m tonnes. By 2005, the world was consuming nine times that a year, at 270m tonnes. World soya oil production, meanwhile, has increased sevenfold over the same period, from 5m tonnes to 34m tonnes a year.

To feed demand, new agricultural frontiers are being opened up in Brazil, where large areas of virgin rainforest have been illegally felled to make room for the crop. US-based transnationals are now exporting soya back to China, the country from which it originated, as newly urbanised Chinese switch to industrialised western diets. Thanks to US agribusiness, we have developed an apparently insatiable global appetite for the bean produced by farmers in the Americas.

James and Fitzpatrick became convinced early on that this entirely new dependence on soya was, in fact, a dangerous experiment. The dead parrots were no joke - they were the canaries in the coalmine.

For James and his wife Valerie, breeding the exotic birds down under was a retirement dream. They wanted to feed their young birds the best, so they began giving the chicks a soya feed. Parrots do not eat soya beans in the wild but the high-protein animal feed had been marketed in the US as a new miracle food.

The result was a catastrophic breeding year. Some of the birds were infertile; many died. Other young male birds aged prematurely or reached puberty years early. "We realised there was some sort of hormonal disruption going on but we'd eliminated other possible hormone disrupting chemicals such as pesticides from the inquiry," Fitzpatrick says.

So the toxicologist began a systematic review of the scientific literature on soya. After finding out about the plant oestrogens in soya, Fitzpatrick says, "My next thought was: what about children who are fed soya milk?" He calculated that babies fed exclusively on soya formula could receive the oestrogenic equivalent, based on body weight, of five birth control pills a day.

In fact, it had been known since the early 1980s that plant oestrogens, or phyto-oestrogens, could produce biological effects in humans. The most common of these were a group of compounds in soya protein called isoflavones. Food manufacturers had variously marketed soya foods as an antidote to menopausal hot flushes and osteoporosis, and as a protective ingredient against cardiovascular disease and hormone-related cancers. Large quantities of mainly industry-sponsored scientific research have been produced to back up these claims. The American soya industry spends about $80m every year, raised from a mandatory levy on producers, to research and promote the consumption of soya around the world. The rash of new soya foods can be seen as the latest in a line of innovative ways devised to use soya.

The hypothesis behind the health claims is that rates of heart disease and certain cancers such as breast and prostate cancer are lower in east Asian populations with soya-rich diets than in western countries, and that the oestrogens in soya might therefore have a protective effect.

Fitzpatrick, however, looked into historic soya consumption in Japan and China and concluded that Asians did not actually eat that much. What they did eat tended to have been fermented for months. "If you look at people who are into health fads here, they are eating soya steaks and veggie burgers or veggie sausages and drinking soya milk - they are getting over 100g a day. They are eating tonnes of the raw stuff."

Mass exposure to isoflavones in the west has only occurred in the past 30 years due to the widespread incorporation of soya protein into processed foods, a fact noted by the Royal Society in its expert report on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in 2000. When the independent experts on the scientific committee on toxicity trawled through all the scientific data, they concluded that soya milk should not be recommended for infants even when they had cow's milk allergies, except on medical advice, because of the high levels of oestrogenic isoflavones it contains.

On breast cancer, they decided that "despite the suggested benefits of phyto-oestrogens in lowering risk of developing breast cancer, there is also evidence that they may stimulate the progression of the disease". The lower risk of certain cancers among Asian populations might be due to other factors - their high consumption of fish, for example. They advised caution. On the effects on menopause symptoms, the evidence was inconclusive, the experts ruled. On bone density, the committee thought there might be some protective effects, but the data was unclear. The evidence on prostate cancer was mixed. Since isoflavones cross the placenta, the implications of pregnant women eating large quantities of soya were unclear. There was some evidence that soya-based products had a beneficial effect on the good HDL cholesterol but they were not sure that was down to the isoflavones. On the other hand - reassuringly - they judged that a study linking soya consumption to decline in cognitive function was not convincing.

What the committee also pointed out was that the way soya was processed affected the levels of phyto-oestrogens. Traditional fermentation reduces the levels of isoflavones two- to threefold. Modern factory processes do not. Moreover, modern American strains of soya have significantly higher levels of isoflavones than Japanese or Chinese ones because they have been bred to be more resistant to pests. (One way to tackle pests is to stop them breeding by making them infertile. It turns out that unfermented soya did play one role in traditional Asian diets - it was eaten by monks to dampen down their libido.)

Sue Dibb, now food policy expert at the National Consumer Council, was a member of the CoT working group that compiled the final report. She questions whether infant soya milk should still be on public sale and is troubled by the latest marketing of soya. "We looked in detail at the claimed health benefits for adults for soya consumption and concluded there was not sufficient evidence to support many of them. There may be benefits but there are also risks. The groups of adults of particular concern are those with a thyroid problem and women with oestrogen-dependent breast cancer. It worries me that soya is being pushed as a health food by a big soya and supplements industry. We ought to be taking a more cautious approach."

The Food Standards Agency advice is that soya's potential to have an adverse effect on babies' hormonal development is still controversial, but that soya formula should only be given to infants under 12 months old in exceptional circumstances.

Professor Richard Sharpe, head of the Medical Research Council's human reproductive sciences unit at Edinburgh University, was also a member of the committee's working group on phyto-oestrogens in food. He has been studying the decline in male fertility in the past half-century. He recently completed studies on the effects of soya milk on young male monkeys which showed that it interferes with testosterone levels. "In the first three months after birth, baby boys have a neonatal testosterone rise. The testes are very, very active in hormone production at this point and there is a lot of cell activity going on that will determine sperm count in adults and will affect the developing prostate. If you introduce a phyto-oestrogen, which can, in large amounts, alter these changes, you may predispose children to later disease. Soya formula milk is a [recent] western invention. There is not the historical evidence to show it is safe."

Manufacturers, however, argue that soya infant formula has been widely used without problems. "The industry has said that if the CoT comes up with clear science, we will take note, but the case is not proven," says Roger Clarke, director general of the industry's Infant Dietetics Food Association. "A lot of the work it looked at was based on experimental work with animals. There does not seem to be clear evidence of adverse effects, and there is demand for it. There are some markets, such as vegan usage, where soya is the only alternative."

While 30-40% of all infants in the US are raised on soya formula - not least because it is given away in welfare programmes - soya milk for babies has always been confined to a small minority in the UK. So does Sharpe think exposure to soya from other sources - vegetarian soya proteins, the soya flour in factory bread, the hydrolysed proteins added as flavourings, for example - has a cumulative effect that might be worrying to other age groups? He says he is not concerned about people who eat soya foods in moderation or in the way they are traditionally used in oriental diets, but when it comes to modern processed foods, which use soya proteins in different ways, he prefers to turn the question round. "If someone said they were adding a hormone to your foods, would you be happy with that? There may be lots of effects, some of them may be beneficial, but would you be happy with that? I am not a fan of processed foods, full stop. And these quick fixes for protecting against ill-health - you know they can't be true," he adds.

A steaming hiss fills the kitchen of the top London restaurant Nobu, even after the lunchtime rush. Japanese chefs are filleting the evening's fish while stock bubbles and concentrates in its stainless steel vat behind. Executive chef Mark Edwards hands me a teaspoon of one of his soy sauces. Cool from the fridge, it is thick, rich, dark and sweet, yet remarkably clear from its long fermentation. The miso that he uses to marinade his famous black cod for three days is dense and strong from its lengthy brew too. Muslin cloths envelop delicate curds of tofu, made fresh each day and added in small cubes to miso soup.

Soya is used in traditional oriental diets in these forms, after cultures, moulds or precipitants have achieved a biochemical transformation, because in its raw form the mature bean is known not only for its oestrogenic qualities but for also its antinutrients, according to the clinical nutritionist Kaayla Daniel, author of The Whole Soy Story. Soya was originally grown in China as a green manure, for its ability to fix nitrogen in the soil, rather than as a food crop, until the Chinese discovered ways of fermenting it, she says.

The young green beans, now sold as a fashionable snack, edamame, are lower in oestrogens and antinutrients, though not free of them. But raw mature soya beans contain phytates that prevent mineral absorption and enzyme inhibitors that block the key enzymes we need to digest protein. They are also famous for inducing flatulence.

Christopher Dawson, who owns the Clearspring brand of organic soy sauces, agrees. He lived in Japan for 18 years and his Japanese wife, Setsuko, is a cookery teacher. "I never saw soy beans on the table in Japan - they're indigestible."

Dawson describes the traditional craft method of transforming the soya bean through fermentation, so that its valuable amino acids become available but its antinutrients are tamed. The process involves cooking whole soya beans, complete with their oil, for several hours, then adding the spores of a mould to the mix, and leaving it to ferment for three days to begin the long process of breaking down the proteins and starches. This initial brew is then mixed with salt water and left to ferment for a further 18 months, during which time the temperature will vary with the seasons. The end result is an intensely flavoured condiment in which the soya's chemical composition has been radically altered. Traditional miso is similarly made with natural whole ingredients, slowly aged.

Most soya sauces (and misos) are not made this way any more, however. Instead of using the whole bean, manufacturers short-cut the fermentation by starting with defatted soy protein meal. Soya veggie burgers and sausages generally use the same chemically extracted fraction of the bean.

This meal is the product of the industrial crushing process the vast majority of the world's soya beans go through. The raw beans are broken down to thin flakes, which are then percolated with a petroleum-based hexane solvent to extract the soya oil. The remains of the flakes are toasted and ground to a protein meal, most of which goes into animal feed. Soya flour is made in a similar way.

The oil then goes through a process of cleaning, bleaching, degumming and deodorising to remove the solvent and the oil's characteristic "off" smells and flavours. The lecithin that forms a heavy sludge in the oil during storage used to be regarded as a waste product, but now it has been turned into a valuable market in its own right as an emulsifier.

In so-called "naturally brewed" soya sauces the processed soy protein meal is mixed with the mould spores and given accelerated ageing at high temperatures for three to six months. Non-brewed soya sauce, the cheapest grade, is made in just two days. Defatted soya flour is mixed with hydrochloric acid at high temperatures and under pressure to create hydrolysed vegetable protein. Salt, caramel and chemical preservatives and flavourings are then added to provide colour and taste. This rapid hydrolysis method uses the enzyme glutamase as a reactor and creates large amounts of the unnatural form of glutamate that is found in MSG.

Most commercial soya milk today is made from soya isolates, although some of the pioneers of soya foods as health products in Europe avoid the chemical extraction process and use whole beans to make their milk. The key selling points for both types of soya milk are that they contain complete proteins and oestrogenic isoflavones.

Bernard Deryckere, president of the European Natural Soyfood Manufacturers Association, says that his members' products, made using natural processes, are a healthy alternative to diary products. "A lot of people in Europe are lactose-intolerant. Soya milk was invented in China 4,000 years ago and today it's consumed by all types of people as a cholesterol-free source of quality protein."

Daniel's detailed examination of the history of soya milk, however, suggests that soya milk was made not to drink, except in times of famine, but as the first step in the process of making tofu. After the long, slow boiling of soya beans in water to eliminate toxins, a curdling agent was added to the liquid to separate it. The curds would then be pressed to make tofu and the whey, in which the antinutrients were concentrated, would be thrown away.

Dibb points out that if you are drinking non-dairy milk because you want calcium without cow's milk, there are plenty of other sources such as green leafy vegetables and nuts. And only those eating extremely limited diets are likely to be short of protein as adults.

Dawson, a lifelong vegetarian, does not drink soya milk and only eats tofu in moderation. "I will only use a product for my family if there is 200 years of tradition behind it. You are asking for trouble if you take an isolate from soya - yet so much effort seems to go into taking industry's waste and turning it into new food."

The effort that has gone into creating the global soya market has indeed been enormous. Today it is dominated by a handful of American trading companies. Three of them - Bunge, ADM and Cargill - control 80% of the European soya bean crushing industry. These three, together with allied companies, are also estimated to control up to 80% of European animal feed manufacturing. They dominate the US soya market, and also account for 60% of Brazil's soya exports.

Before the first world war, only a very few soya beans were crushed. The Americans had begun experimenting with using the protein meal as animal feed, but farmers were reluctant to take it up because it was indigestible to chicken and pigs. The oil produced was considered "a bit of an embarrassment", according to Kurt Burger, a fats and oils technical expert at the Society of Chemical Industry, whose experience in the food industry goes back to 1944. It was mainly used in soaps because it was considered unpalatable. (Henry Ford later funded research projects to turn soya into plastic for car parts.)

Cottonseed oil, a byproduct of the cotton industry, was the main edible oil used in the US. But then the combination of disease in monocropped cotton and demand from European allies in the first world war for oil both to eat and to make the glycerine needed for nitroglycerine in explosives, stimulated American soy oil production.

It was not until the 1940s that industry worked out how to deactivate the enzyme inhibitor in the protein meal sufficiently for animals to tolerate it, and it was only technology taken from the Nazis at the end of the second world war that solved the problem of the oil's horrible smell and flavour. That left the way for the US to promote the soya that suited its agricultural conditions as part of the reconstruction of Europe through the 1950s. Soya oil exports to Europe tripled under the Marshall Plan, and heavily subsidised exports of surplus US soya ensured the commodity's dominance in animal feed. The subsidies continue. Between 1998 and 2004, US Department of Agriculture figures show that its soya farming received $13bn in subsidies from the American taxpayer.

Until 2003, the US was the largest exporter of soya. But through the 1990s, multinationals promoted the expansion of the crop in Latin America, helping finance farmers and building the infrastructure for soya exports. The attraction of Latin America is that land is cheap and labour costs are minimal too. Three years ago, the combined exports from Brazil and Argentina surpassed US exports for the first time. The cost is now being counted there in environmental damage and social upheaval. The cost to western consumers may yet be counted in health.

10:10 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Food and drink

Soya Milk Driving Growth in Non-Dairy Drinks Market

The SOUTH-EAST ASIAN Market for NON-DAIRY DRINKS

Country Coverage: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, The Philippines
Pricing Scheme:	Published: June 2004
Full Report USD 2,950 (GB £1,595)	Pages: 175

Country Chapters USD 740 (GB £399)

Soya Milk Driving Growth in Non-Dairy Drinks Market
The South-East Asian market for non-dairy drinks is reporting healthy growth with most growth occurring in the soya milk segment. Market growth is being driven by the marketing efforts of manufacturers and the growing popularity of soya milk as a dairy milk alternative.

Asian consumers are very familiar with soya drinks, which have been marketed as non-carbonated soft drinks for decades. Scientific evidence linking soya consumption to health benefits like low cholesterol and reduced incidence of osteoporosis is widening consumer appeal for soya milk. This is causing soya milk to become increasingly popular as a dairy milk substitute, especially from consumers seeking healthy & nutritious beverages.

Some of the largest Asian producers of soya drinks are based in South-East Asia with a few firms producing soya drinks for over half a century. Keen competition is leading companies to focus on marketing & promotional activities and new product development for sales growth. In recent years, new product launches have included novel flavours of soya milk as well as soya drinks with functional ingredients. Green tea and mango flavoured fresh soya milk is available in the Singaporean market as well as soya milk fortified with omega acids.

The fresh soya milk market is experiencing high growth in certain Asian countries. Fresh soya milk competes directly with dairy milk in the chilled cabinets of food retailers and Asian consumers are favouring fresh soya milk because of its low-fat content, relatively low price, and nutritional content.

The modernisation of the retail trade in Asian countries has led to a large rise in the number of supermarkets & hypermarkets, which are becoming the most important sales channels for non-dairy drinks. Larger supermarkets in the major cities have a comprehensive range of non-dairy drinks, with some offering soya bean drinks, organic soya milk, rice drinks and oat drinks. Health food shops are the most important sales outlets for organic beverages, especially rice drinks and oat drinks in most countries.

This report analyses the non-dairy drinks market in the five leading country markets in South-East Asia. Market & competitive information is given for soya drinks, rice drinks and oat drinks, which includes market size (volume & revenues), market growth forecasts (2004-2010), market & pricing trends, sales channels and market shares of the leading producers. Strategic recommendations are given to existing producers and prospective new entrants.

More Information
Research News: South-East Asia: From Functional Soya Drinks to Organic?
Singapore: Hain Builds Platform for Asia Expansion

10:08 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Food and drink

Soya Republic

Soya Republic
As the people of Argentina are driven by economic collapse to the point of starvation, a new solution is being imposed upon them. Ben Backwell reports on a country being force fed genetically modified soya designed not for humans, but for cattle.

Date:01/02/2003

Author:Ben Backwell

‘There is no justification for hunger in a country with one of the greatest levels of food production per inhabitant,’ says the text on the slick website of the Soya Solidarity campaign. Underneath, a few shiny clean soya beans in front of the smiling face of a child. ‘Its time that we replace attitudes based in egoism, bureaucracy, corruption, indifference and “don’t interfere” with those of solidarity, ethics, action, and fundamentally, dignity,’ gushes the statement.

It goes on in a similar tone to describe soya, ‘Argentina’s principle crop’, as ‘a high quality food for human consumption, given that it contains proteins of a high biological value, rich in all the essential amino acids that can practically replace meat in our diet. For cultural reasons, the custom of consuming soya has not been developed. Now the moment to do so has arrived. This can be part of the solution for the hunger that many Argentines are suffering.

The statement concludes with an appeal for producers to donate soya for needy families, with the help of transport operators, storage centres and the media, ‘whose job is to let everyone know about this project and publicise recipes for the use of soya as food.

Friends in high places

Solidarity Soya’s main sponsors are the Direct Sowing Producer’s Association (AAPRESID), which groups together large GM producers, Cargill, Chevron Texaco, the Argentine Exporters Association, the Grain Storage Association, the Vegetable Oil Chamber, the Rosario Agricultural Stock Exchange, and the powerful Sociedad Rural, which represents Argentina’s large landowners.

It is supported by powerful media interests such as Argentina’s biggest daily newspaper Clarín and the glossy magazine Gente – which called the Solidarity Soya campaign ‘a brilliant idea which could change history’. Héctor Huergo, a well known columnist for Clarín, called soya ‘a complete food, which just needs to enter into our culture.’ He went on to suggest that the government could save money on its social spending by supporting soya handouts instead of unemployment cheques. ‘Why spend 350 million pesos if we could save this through out solidarity scheme?’ asks Huergo.

The campaign has also been supported by media personalities such as the charismatic priest and founder of the Happy Children programme, Padre Julio Grassi, who is also currently on trial for child abuse and recipient of generous government handouts during the rule of the corrupt ex-President Carlos Menem.

‘Many times I prayed to God and the Virgin because I couldn’t feed the children,’ declared Grassi in Gente magazine. ‘That’s why the soya donations from APPRESID were a blessing from God.

According to Solidarity Soya’s website, the campaign has so far directly benefited hundreds of thousands of people in Greater Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Santa Fe, Formosa, Rosario, San Juan and Patagonia – thanks to diesel fuel supplied by Chevron Texaco – through literally thousands of churches, communal soup kitchens, boy scout groups, rotary clubs, neighbourhood assemblies, local councils, and political ‘point men’. It has donated some 677,000 kilos of soya in the last year, and is now directly feeding ‘700,000’ people, and ‘indirectly’ some 300,000 more, according to one of the coordinators of the campaign, Ezequiel Schnyder.

With its extensive social assistance network the Catholic Church has been a key actor in extending Solidarity Soya. When contacted by anti-GM groups alarmed at the effect of the campaign, Catholic charity Cáritas refused requests for meetings and sent a written reply saying that ‘there is no proof that soya, because it is GM, causes health problems for its consumers.

While they may not be willing to talk about soya’s risks, they are more than happy to give it out. The Three Times Ådmirable Mother orphanage and its 800 children will soon be running a soya plant capable of producing 30,000 soya rations per day, which will be distributed throughout the soup kitchens of the city of La Plata, Buenos Aires Province. The project will be run by Father Carlos Cajade, with technical support from La Plata University. The former street children that live in the orphanage will act as workers in the plant, as well as, of course, eating from plant’s produce.

The campaign has also ‘persuaded’ large soya producers to donate one tonne out of every 1,000 they produce to schools, neighborhood soup kitchens, churches and hospitals. The campaign then employs a network of promoters that travel the country giving seminars on how to prepare and cook soya beans into steaks, pasties, juices, stews and so on.

Given the almost complete ignorance amongst Argentina’s urban population about agricultural affairs, even many Buenos Aires neighbourhood assemblies have been happy to promote soya as a ‘natural’ substitute for the traditional staples of pasta, meat and cheese, which have become prohibitively expensive for most Argentines. One of the key tactics of Solidarity Soya has been to donate crushing machines to schools to produce soya ‘milk’, now that school canteens can no longer afford to give children a glass of milk per day. The campaign is also in the process of donating a huge plant in the Buenos Aires provincial capital of La Plata in order to make soya flour for pasta and other foods. The plant – run by a local catholic priest - will feed 800 poor children as well as other sections of the surrounding population.

The result is a disaster. ‘Mothers in the provinces are giving soya “milk” to their children thinking that it can replace real milk,’ says Jorge Rulli, a grey-bearded former political activist and member of the Rural Reflexion Group, who spends much of his free time visiting neighbourhood assemblies to counter pro-soya propaganda. ‘The result is anaemia, hormonal disruption, weak bones, rotten teeth, malnutrition.’ The GM feedstock soya that is now being consumed in Argentina is also extremely high in agro chemical traces. Typical traces are 20 ppm of Glyphosate compared to just 0.2 ppm in soya grown for human consumption, according to specialist in GM soya Luis Sabini Fernández. Furthermore, the human body can only absorb limited quantities of soya as it is highly acidic. Argentine strains of soya were developed to be consumed as oils, or by animals in their unfermented state. ‘There is no way that soya can act as a staple without leading to physical deterioration,’ says Rulli.

A government-sponsored congress on nutrition earlier this year produced a document entitled Criteria for the Incorporation of Soya. It explicitly warns that ‘Soya should not be denominated as “milk” as it it in no way constitutes a substitute for the latter.’ The document also warns against presenting soya as a ‘panacea’, and that it should only be consumed in moderate quantities as part of a balanced diet. It goes on to say: ‘Because of its high concentration of fitates, it interferes with the absortion of iron and zinc, and is not a good source of calcium.’ It warns against giving soya juice to children of two years and under, pregnant women, and indigenous people because of their deficit in iron and calcium.

‘Because of the fundamental role played by milk in the early years, its substitution by the misnamed soya “milk” is completely negative,’ says Andres Britos, from the Argentine Centre for the Study of Infant Nutricion (CESNI). ‘Lack of calcium will inhibit growth and lead to badly formed bones, while the lack of absorbable iron in soya can lead to anaemia.’ Britos warns that soya proteins are not as complete as those contained by meat, and warns that high levels of estrogen in soya may lead to premature development of the sexual organs if it is consumed in ‘exaggerated’ quantities.

Despite this, the government has turned a blind eye while the Soya Solidarity campaign does exactly that. In many areas, government bodies such as the National Farming Technology Institute (INTA) participate in the campaign, ignoring the guidelines spelt out above. The governor of Buenos Aires state, Felipe Solá, who was Agriculture Secretary when GM was introduced, is a firm supporter of the soya complex, and has even been prepared to use his own family as an example of the supposed benefits of a soya diet. The immediate effects in terms of the impact of this sudden introduction of soya in place of traditional foods have yet to be measured, as its effects are only now emerging in the crumbling hospitals of Argentina’s provinces. And quite apart from the open promotion of soya as staple food, much of the cheaper food sold in supermarkets already contains up to 50 per cent soya – to add consistency and volume – in everything from hamburgers to biscuits and pasta fillings.

According to Teubal, the imposition of the soya model is creating a kind of ‘dietary apartheid’, where the rich continue to eat the same diversity of foodstuffs as before, and the poor are given ‘second rate soya’. ‘The point is that this whole change of model is a business, he says. ‘It has nothing to do with people’s needs. Technology is not neutral, and GM will not resolve the problem of hunger, in the same way that the Green Revolution didn’t before.

For Rulli, the effects may be even worse: ‘We are addicted to Soya. We have been assigned a role in the world as a producer of soya and in many ways we are now a laboratory. We are seeing all kinds of things due to toxicity: precocious sexual development, early pregnancies, and at the same time, stunted growth. Hormonal disruption will end up making the population less aggressive, creating a new, more docile kind of citizen.

This propoganda is the latest development in the transformation of Argentina from a food producing nation to a supplier of feed for the livestock of wealthy nations. Its instrument is GM Soya. Its architects are the giant agro industrial corporations and the biotech firm Monsanto. And its supporting actors are a host of organisations, rural producers, NGOs and individuals who are disingenuously promoting soya as a miracle food that can solve the problems of Argentina’s poor.

‘People keep saying we are “the breadbasket of the world”, but they are missing the point,’ says Rulli. ‘We have become, not a “banana republic“ but a “soya republic”, a monoculture that is destroying people’s livelihoods, and preparing the way for famine.

Economy of Scale

The statistics are startling. In 1994/95 5.9 million hectares were dedicated to soya. By 1999/2000 that number had risen to 7.2m. By the latest estimates, the amount of land used for soya is now as high as 12.7m ha.

The volume of soya produced has grown in the last 10 years from 10m tonnes to an estimated 30m in 2002, making Argentina the world’s second largest producer of GM soya, behind the US, and the world’s largest exporter. Soya cultivation has spread like a cancer, both in traditional grain production areas and in the frontier agricultural regions such as Tucumán, Salta, Santiago del Estero and El Chaco. The onslaught is carrying all before it, affecting even regions such as the forest of Yunga, now disappearing at a rate of 1000ha per year, to be replaced by the green uniformity of Soya.

‘We have already lost – for ever – more than 130,000ha of forest,’ says the director of the Argentina’s Fundación Vida Silvestre (Wildlife Foundation), Javier Corcuera. ‘If we carry on like this we can expect more flooding and less natural resources for the population.

While Argentines go hungry, the lion’s share of the soya production goes to European feed lots, to sustain the ‘phantom hectares’ of cattle production that could not exist if it were not Argentina and other feedstock producers. The rest is exported as oils, to Asia.

Soya production has been expanding since the 1980s. The process accelerated, however, in 1996 with the introduction of Monsanto’s GM seed, Roundup Ready (RR). RR’s introduction occurred without any form of public debate in Argentina’s parliament and was retrospectively given legal sanction by the Ministry of Agriculture. The result – Argentina is by far the most successful country for Monsanto in terms of take up of its product, with over 95 per cent of producers using RR.

‘The direct planting and the GM soya go hand in hand,’ explains Professor Miguel Teubal, investigator at the Rural Studies Group of the University of Buenos Aires. ‘With the introduction of GM soya and direct sowing, producers can carry out two harvests per year. They leave the leftovers and the weeds of the first season in place, and plant soya on top of it. To kill any thing still living, they put large quantities of Glyphosate on top of it.

The Glyphosate-based herbicide is called Round Up, and produced by Monsanto. The GM seed is called Roundup Ready and has been engineered for one thing only: to resist the Glyphosate. It is also produced by Monsanto, whose revenues in Argentina rose from $386m in 1998 to $584m in 2001 – nearly 10 per cent of its total earnings. Seemingly anticipating Argentina’s financial collapse and devaluation at the end of 2001, last year Monsanto opened a $136m production plant for Round Up in Zárate, Buenos Aires province.

In a worrying tendency, investigators at Conicet, the government-sponsored academic research council, say that Glyphosate use per hectare shows signs of significant increase in the mere five years or so that RR has been used, indicating that weeds are already becoming resistant to its use. The effect on biodiversity of this massive sustained use have yet to be calculated.

‘The main “advantage” for producers is not that the GM soya improves yields, or reduces agro-chemical use, but that it reduces labour costs,’ says Teubal. Producers no longer have to plough or prepare the soil, nor use several types of fertilisers of herbicides. All a producer has to do is employ someone to regularly measure a sample of crops for weed and parasite levels and, if necessary, telephone a crop spraying service to make another flypass. Indeed, in a government survey carried out in the state of Córdoba, 71 per cent of farmers said one of the main advantages of RR was that ‘it saves time’. This has led to a kind of ‘agriculture without producers’, reduced rural employment and sent further waves of displaced people into the shanty towns surrounding Argentina’s huge cities.

Ben Backwell is an investigative journalist based in Argentina.

The economies of scale needed for the mechanised agriculture of direct sowing, and the costs of the Monsanto’s herbicide and seeds, have left smaller farmers unable to survive. The amount of small and medium farm holdings in Argentina fell by more than 30 per cent between 1992 and 1999.

Since October 2000, 450,000 jobs have been lost, leaving more than 20 per cent unemployed, and more than half the population below the poverty line. Salaries have lost 70 per cent of their value and the economy is shrinking at a rate of 14 per cent, while inflation runs at 40 per cent. In Tucumán, 64 per cent now live in extreme poverty.

Aside from the traditional large barons who have always controlled the bulk of the fertile land, large swathes of the country are now in the hands of foreign tycoons such as George Soros, rural investment funds run by agronomists and bankers, and the ‘sowing pools’. Many medium farmers merely lease their land to these pools and live from the rent.

Argentina’s production of consumer food goods, and the food security provided by rural producers supplying produce for local markets, has been devastated. Milk production has declined to the point that Argentina is importing milk from Uruguay for the first time in its history, along with other traditional products such as lentils, chick peas, and sweetcorn, and cattle herds have struggled to survive as they are forced into more marginal areas. ‘Argentina was not a classic case of an agroexport model because we exported the same foodstuffs which we ourselves ate, and this provided food security,’ says Professor Teubal. ‘The introduction of the soya culture has dramatically increased our vulnerability.

‘We are replacing all the other crops and productive systems, which wouldn’t be a problem if it were easy to change back again, but we are wiping out entire woods, fruit plantations and dairy farms, and eliminating the diversity of our production,’ says Wálter Pengue, specialist in Genetic Plant Improvement of Buenos Aires University.

‘The displaced rural producer finds himself in the slums on the edges of the big city, where his knowledge is despised and unused, at the mercy of clientalistic political networks, reliant on hand outs,’ says Rulli. ‘Within a few years they find themselves completely screwed up physically and psychologically, and when the crisis comes, so does the hunger.’

10:04 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | News and politics

save our soul - soya milk

Soya Milk

What is Soya Milk?

Soya milk is made by soaking Soya beans, grinding them up and mixing with water. The resulting fluid after straining is called Soya milk. You can make Soya milk at home with basic kitchen tools using our instructions which come with the Tofu kit.

Soya milk has a beany taste, which is well accepted by the Chinese, but less so by the Western palate. By using special processing techniques, this beany taste can be reduced or eliminated.

Recently, with many new uses for Soya milk having been discovered, the recognition of Soya milk's health benefits, and with improved flavour and texture, Soya milk now has wide and rising acceptance.

Sometimes, protein isolates from soy bean are mixed with water, oils, sugars and stabilizers to give it a milky appearance. This type of product should be described as Soya drinks and is not so wholesome as real Soya milk.

Plain Soya milk is very nutritional: it's an excellent source of high quality proteins, isoflavones and B-vitamins. Soya milk is free of the milk sugar (lactose) and is a good choice for people who are lactose intolerant. Also, Soya milk is a good alternative for those who are allergic to cow's milk.

Availability of Soya milk

Soya milk is most commonly found in aseptic cartons. Most of the Soya milk available in the market is flavoured and fortified with extra calcium or vitamins. The most popular flavours for Soya milk are vanilla and chocolate. Some producers add thickeners to their soy milk to give it the 'feel' of cows milk.

Making your own Soya milk

In China and Japan fresh Soya milk is made daily using a simple, centuries-old process of grinding soaked Soya beans and pressing the Soya milk out of the beans. There, Soya milk is sold by street vendors or in cafes. Soya milk is served hot or cold and is often flavoured with soy sauce and vegetables to produce a spicy soup.

Many people find the cost of commercial soymilk to be prohibitive and make Soya milk at home. Soya milk can be made at home by soaking and crushing Soya beans and filtering the liquid, which is Soya milk. Some have invested in a Soya milk machine that cooks and grinds the Soya beans and makes Soya milk, fresh in your own home. There are different brands of Soya milk machines on the market. You don't need these machines to make good quality Soya milk.

Make Soya Milk at a Fraction of the Cost

Nutritional values of Soya milk

Soya milk is an excellent source of high quality protein and B-vitamins. Soya milk is not a rich source of calcium; this is why most commercial soymilk products are fortified with calcium.

Soya milk naturally contains isoflavones, plant chemicals that help lower LDL ("bad" cholesterol) if taken as part of a "heart healthy" eating plan.

Soya Milk

Using the instructions that come with this kit and the muslin bag, you can make Soya milk at a fraction of the cost of commercial Soya milk. You can vary the concentration to your own taste and add your own flavourings. You can make up to 10 litres in only 30 minutes. Electrical Soya milk makers can usually make only a small quantity of Soya milk and they don't make Tofu. Their initial cost is quite high.

Some of the benefits Tofu is said to have:

Improves the quality of bones
Helps to prevent kidney disease
Helps reduce risk of heart disease
Helps to prevent certain hormonal related cancers e.g. prostate, colon and breast
Relieves menopausal symptoms
Look on the other sections of this website for further information

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save our soya

Nutritional values of Soya milk (per 100g)

Water 93.3g
Energy 33.0kcal
Energy 138.0kJ
Protein 2.8g
Fat(total lipid) 2.0g
Fatty acids, saturated 0.214g
Fatty acids, mono-unsaturated 0.326g
Fatty acids, poly-unsaturated 0.833g
Carbohydrates 1.8g
Fibre 1.3g
Ash 0.27g
Isoflavones 8.8mg
Calcium, Ca 4.0mg
Iron, Fe 0.58mg
Magnesium, Mg 19.0mg
Phosphorus, Mg 49.0mg
Potassium, K 141.0mg
Sodium, Na 12.0mg
Zinc, Zn 0.23mg
Copper, Cu 0.12mg
Manganese, Mn 0.17mg
Selenium, Se 1.3µg
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) 0.0mg
Thiamin (vitamin B1) 0.161mg
Riboflavin (vitamin B2) 0.070mg
Niacin (vitamin B3) 0.147mg
Panthotenic acid (vitamin B5) 0.048mg
Vitamin B6 0.041 mg Folic acid 1.5µg
Vitamin B12 0.0µg
Vitamin A 3.0µg
Vitamin E 0.010mg

[Source: USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference]

6:55 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Health and wellness