| 1 Love justice, you who judge the earth; think of the LORD in goodness, and seek him in integrity of heart; |
| 2 Because he is found by those who test him not, and he manifests himself to those who do not disbelieve him. |
| 3 For perverse counsels separate a man from God, and his power, put to the proof, rebukes the foolhardy; |
| 4 Because into a soul that plots evil wisdom enters not, nor dwells she in a body under debt of sin. |
| 5 For the holy spirit of discipline flees deceit and withdraws from senseless counsels; and when injustice occurs it is rebuked. |
| 6 For wisdom is a kindly spirit, yet she acquits not the blasphemer of his guilty lips; Because God is the witness of his inmost self and the sure observer of his heart and the listener to his tongue. |
| 7 For the spirit of the LORD fills the world, is all-embracing, and knows what man says. |
| 8 Therefore no one who utters wicked things can go unnoticed, nor will chastising condemnation pass him by. |
| 9 For the devices of the wicked man shall be scrutinized, and the sound of his words shall reach the LORD, for the chastisement of his transgressions; |
| 10 Because a jealous ear hearkens to everything, and discordant grumblings are no secret. |
| 11 Therefore guard against profitless grumbling, and from calumny withhold your tongues; For a stealthy utterance does not go unpunished, and a lying mouth slays the soul. |
| 12 Court not death by your erring way of life, nor draw to yourselves destruction by the works of your hands. |
| 13 Because God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. |
| 14 For he fashioned all things that they might have being; and the creatures of the world are wholesome, And there is not a destructive drug among them nor any domain of the nether world on earth, |
| 15 For justice is undying. |
| 16 It was the wicked who with hands and words invited death, considered it a friend, and pined for it, and made a covenant with it, Because they deserve to be in its possession, |