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THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON

Exhortation to Uprightness

1Love righteousness, you rulers of the earth,
think of the Lord in goodness
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 people from God,
and when his power is tested, it exposes the foolish;
⁴ because wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul,
or dwell in a body enslaved to sin.
⁵ For a holy and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit,
and will leave foolish thoughts behind,
and will be ashamed at the approach of unrighteousness.

⁶ For wisdom is a kindly spirit,
but will not free blasphemers from the guilt of their words;
because God is witness of their inmost feelings,
and a true observer of their hearts, and a hearer of their tongues.
⁷ Because the spirit of the Lord has filled the world,
and that which holds all things together knows what is said,
⁸ therefore those who utter unrighteous things will not escape notice,
and justice, when it punishes, will not pass them by.
⁹ For inquiry will be made into the counsels of the ungodly,
and a report of their words will come to the Lord,
to convict them of their lawless deeds;
¹⁰ because a jealous ear hears all things,
and the sound of grumbling does not go unheard.
¹¹ Beware then of useless grumbling,
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,
or 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 so that they might exist;
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.

Life as the Ungodly See It

¹⁶ But the ungodly by their words and deeds summoned death;^*
considering him a friend, they pined away
and made a covenant with him,
because they are fit to belong to his company.

2For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves,
‘Short and sorrowful is our life,
and there is no remedy when a life comes to its end,
and no one has been known to return from Hades.
² For we were born by mere chance,
and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been,
for the breath in our nostrils is smoke,
and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our hearts;
³ when it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes,
and the spirit will dissolve like empty air.
⁴ Our name will be forgotten in time,
and no one will remember our works;
our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud,
and be scattered like mist
that is chased by the rays of the sun
and overcome by its heat.
⁵ For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow,
and there is no return from our death,
because it is sealed up and no one turns back.

Proverbs

1The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

Prologue

² For learning about wisdom and instruction,
   for understanding words of insight,
³ for gaining instruction in wise dealing,
   righteousness, justice, and equity;
⁴ to teach shrewdness to the simple,
   knowledge and prudence to the young—
⁵ let the wise also hear and gain in learning,
   and the discerning acquire skill,
⁶ to understand a proverb and a figure,
   the words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
   fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Warnings against Evil Companions

⁸ Hear, my child, your father’s instruction,
   and do not reject your mother’s teaching;
⁹ for they are a fair garland for your head,
   and pendants for your neck.
¹⁰ My child, if sinners entice you,
   do not consent.
¹¹ If they say, ‘Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
   let us wantonly ambush the innocent;
¹² like Sheol let us swallow them alive
   and whole, like those who go down to the Pit.
¹³ We shall find all kinds of costly things;
   we shall fill our houses with booty.
¹⁴ Throw in your lot among us;
   we will all have one purse’—
¹⁵ my child, do not walk in their way,
   keep your foot from their paths;
¹⁶ for their feet run to evil,
   and they hurry to shed blood.
¹⁷ For in vain is the net baited
   while the bird is looking on;
¹⁸ yet they lie in wait—to kill themselves!
   and set an ambush—for their own lives!
¹⁹ Such is the end^* of all who are greedy for gain;
   it takes away the life of its possessors.