101
Song 4.
The thief
8,7,8,7
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Why should I deprive my neighbour
Of his goods against his will?
Hands were made for honest labour,
Not to plunder, or to steal.
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’Tis a foolish self–deceiving
By such tricks to hope for gain:
All that’s ever got by thieving
Turns to sorrow, shame, and pain.
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102
Have not Eve and Adam taught us
Their sad profit to compute,
To what dismal state they brought us
When they stole forbidden fruit?
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Oft we see a young beginner
Practice little pilfering ways,
Till grown up a harden’d sinner,
Then the gallows ends his days.
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Theft will not be always hidden,
Though we fancy none can spy:
When we take a thing forbidden,
God beholds it with his eye.
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Guard my heart, O God of heaven,
Lest I covet what’s not mine;
Lest I steal what is not given,
Guard my heart and hands from sin.
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