I have been weak and yielding in money matters--have lent and given my money, not out of real charity, but because it brought me the praise of man.

I have lied and cheated in the market, and still my soul was asleep, and you all thought well of me.

I have pretended to be a temperate man, but I have often drunk until my brain was dull, and my eyes were heavy, and have flung myself down on my bed in a drunken sleep, without thought and without prayer." He paused a moment, and the sea wind, coming in at the window, blew a stray lock of his grey hair over his forehead.

His tongue seemed parched and dry, his voice husky and uncertain, but with a fresh effort he continued: "Are you beginning to know me, my friends?
Not yet, not yet, listen! God gave me two brave boys, and how did I take his gift?
I made an idol of one, and was unjust, and often harsh, to the other.

As the years went on I continued in that sinful path, and in my old age the Lord is punishing me.