THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON
1 Love righteousness, you⌃ that be judges of the earth,
Think you⌃ of the Lord * Gr. in goodness. with a good mind,
And in singleness of heart seek you⌃ him;
2 Because he is found of them that tempt him not,
And is manifested to them that do not distrust him.
3 For crooked thoughts separate from God;
And the supreme Power, when it is brought to the proof, † Gr. convicts. 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 ‡ Gr. convicted. put to confusion when unrighteousness has come in.
6 For § Some authorities read the spirit of wisdom is loving to man. wisdom is a spirit that loves man,
And she will not hold a ** Or, reviler 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 †† Gr. the inhabited earth. the world,
And that which holds all things together has knowledge of every voice.
8 Therefore no man that utters unrighteous things shall be unseen;
‡‡ Some authorities read Nor indeed. Neither shall Justice, when it convicts, pass him by.
9 For in the midst of his counsels the ungodly shall be searched out;
And the sound of his words shall come to the Lord
To bring to conviction his lawless deeds:
And the noise of murmurings is not hid.
11 Beware then of unprofitable murmuring,
And refrain your tongue from backbiting;
Because no secret utterance shall 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§§ Or, all the races of creatures in the world the generative powers of the world are healthsome,
And there is no poison of destruction in them:
Nor has Hades *** Or, a royal house royal dominion upon earth,
15 For righteousness is immortal:
16 But ungodly men by their hands and their words called ††† Or, Hades Gr. him. death to them:
Deeming him a friend they ‡‡‡ Or, were consumed with love of him consumed away,
And they made a covenant with him,
Because they are worthy to be of his portion.