9 Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones, and he watches over his elect. 10 But the ungodly will be punished as their reasoning deserves, those who disregarded the righteous and rebelled against the Lord; 11 for those who despise wisdom and instruction are miserable. Their hope is vain, their labors are unprofitable, and their works are useless. 12 Their wives are foolish, and their children evil; 13 their offspring are accursed. For blessed is the barren woman who is undefiled, who has not entered into a sinful union; she will have fruit when God examines souls.

1 Discipline, the safeguard of hope, the bond of faith, the guide of the way of salvation, the stimulus and nourishment of good dispositions, the teacher of virtue, causes us to abide always in Christ, and to live continually for God, and to attain to the heavenly promises and to the divine rewards. To follow her is wholesome, and to turn away from her and neglect her is deadly. The Holy Spirit says in the Psalms, Keep discipline, lest perchance the Lord be angry, and you perish from the right way, when His wrath is quickly kindled against you. And again: But unto the ungodly says God, Why do you preach my laws, and take my covenant into your mouth? Whereas you hate discipline, and hast cast my words behind you. And again we read: He that casts away discipline is miserable. And from Solomon we have received the mandates of wisdom, warning us: My son, despise not the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of Him: for whom the Lord loves He corrects. But if God rebukes whom He loves, and rebukes him for the very purpose of amending him, brethren also, and especially priests, do not hate, but love those whom they rebuke, that they may mend them; since God also before predicted by Jeremiah, and pointed to our times, when he said, And I will give you shepherds according to my heart: and they shall feed you with the food of discipline.?