THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON
1
1 Love righteousness, you⌃ that be judges of the earth,
Think you⌃ of the Lord with a good mind,
And in singleness of heart seek you⌃ him;
2 Because he is found of those who tempt him not,
And is manifested to those who do not distrust him.
3 For crooked thoughts separate from God;
And the supreme Power, when it is brought to the proof, puts to confusion the foolish:
4 Because wisdom will not enter into a soul that deviseth evil,
Nor dwell in a body that is held in pledge by sin.
5 For a holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit.
And will start away from thoughts that are without understanding,
And will be put to confusion when unrighteousness has come in.
6 For wisdom is a spirit that loves man,
And she will not hold a blasphemer guiltless for his lips;
Because God bears witness of his reins,
And is a true overseer of his heart,
And a hearer of his tongue:
7 Because the spirit of the Lord has filled the world,
And that which holds all things together has knowledge of every voice.
8 Therefore no man that utters unrighteous things will be unseen;
Neither will Justice, when it convicts, pass him by.
9 For in the midst of his counsels the ungodly will be searched out;
And the sound of his words will come to the Lord
To bring to conviction his lawless deeds:
10 Because there is an ear of jealousy that listens to all things,
And the noise of murmurings is not hid.
11 Beware then of unprofitable murmuring,
And refrain your tongue from backbiting;
Because no secret utterance will go on its way void,
And a mouth that belies destroys a soul.
12 Court not death in the error of your life;
Neither draw upon yourselves destruction by the works of your hands:
13 Because God made not death;
Neither delights he when the living perish:
14 For he created all things that they might have being:
And the generative powers of the world are healthsome,
And there is no poison of destruction in them:
Nor has Hades royal dominion upon earth,
15 For righteousness is immortal:
16 But ungodly men by their hands and their words called death to them:
Deeming him a friend they consumed away,
And they made a covenant with him,
Because they are worthy to be of his portion.