| 1 Love righteousness, you rulers of the earth, think of the Lord with uprightness, and seek him with sincerity of heart; |
| 2 because he is found by those who do not put him to the test, and manifests himself to those who do not distrust him. |
| 3 For perverse thoughts separate men from God, and when his power is tested, it convicts the foolish; |
| 4 because wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul, nor dwell in a body enslaved to sin. |
| 5 For a holy and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit, and will rise and depart from foolish thoughts, and will be ashamed at the approach of unrighteousness. |
| 6 For wisdom is a kindly spirit and will not free a blasphemer from the guilt of his words; because God is witness of his inmost feelings, and a true observer 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 knows what is said; |
| 8 therefore no one who utters unrighteous things will escape notice, and justice, when it punishes, will not pass him by. |
| 9 For inquiry will be made into the counsels of an ungodly man, and a report of his words will come to the Lord, to convict him of his lawless deeds; |
| 10 because a jealous ear hears all things, and the sound of murmurings does not go unheard. |
| 11 Beware then of useless murmuring, and keep your tongue from slander; because no secret word is without result, and a lying mouth destroys the soul. |
| 12 Do not invite death by the error of your life, nor bring on destruction by the works of your hands; |
| 13 because God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. |
| 14 For he created all things that they might exist, and the generative forces of the world are wholesome, and there is no destructive poison in them; and the dominion of Hades is not on earth. |
| 15 For righteousness is immortal. |
| 16 But ungodly men by their words and deeds summoned death; considering him a friend, they pined away, and they made a covenant with him, because they are fit to belong to his party. |
