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Do not invite death by the error of your life
or bring on destruction by the works of your hands. –Wisdom 1:12
Exhortation to Uprightness
Love righteousness you rulers of the earth, think of the Lord in goodness and seek Him with
sincerity of heart; because He is found by those who do not put Him to the test and manifests
Himself to those who do not distrust Him. For perverse thoughts separate people from God
and when His power is tested, it exposes the foolish; because wisdom will not enter a deceitful
soul or dwell in a body enslaved to sin. For a holy and disciplined spirit will flee deceit and will
leave foolish thoughts behind and will be ashamed at the approach of unrighteousness.
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 observers of their hearts and a
hearer of their tongues. Because the Spirit of the Lord has filled the world and that which holds
all things together knows what is said, therefore those who utter unrighteous things will not
escape notice and justice, when it punishes, will not pass them by. 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; because a jealous ear hears all things and the sound of grumbling does
not go unheard. 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.
Do not invite death by the error of your life, or bring on destruction by the works of your
hands; because God did not make death and He does not delight in the death of the living. For
He created all things so that they may 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. For
righteousness is immortal.
Life as the Ungodly See It
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.
For 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.
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;
when it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes and the spirit will dissolve like empty air.
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. 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. Come, therefore, let us
enjoy the good things that exist and make use of the creation to the full as in youth. Let us take
our fill of costly wine and perfumes and let no flower of spring pass us by. Let us crown
ourselves with rosebuds before they wither. Let none of us fail to share in our revelry;
everywhere let us leave signs of enjoyment because this is our portion and this is our lot. Let us
oppress the righteous poor man; let us not spare the widow or regard the gray hairs of the aged
but let our might be our law of right for what is weak proves itself to be useless. Let us lie in
wait for the righteous man because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he
reproaches us for sins against the Law and accuses us of sins against our training. He professes
to have knowledge of God and calls himself a child of the Lord. He became to us a reproof of
our thoughts; the very sight of him is a burden to us because his manner of life is unlike that of
others and his ways are strange. We are considered by him as something base and he avoids
our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous happy and boasts that God is his
Father. Let us see if his words are true and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; for
if the righteous man is God’s child, He will help him and will deliver him from the hand of his
adversaries. Let us teat him with insult and torture, so that we may find out how gentle he is
and make trial of his forbearance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to
what he says, he will be protected.”
Error of the Wicked
Thus they reasoned but they were led astray, for their wickedness blinded them and they did
not know the secret purposes of God, nor hoped for the wages of holiness, nor discerned the
prize for blameless souls; For God created us for incorruption and made us in the image of His
own eternity but through the devil’s envy death entered the world and those who belong yo his
company experience it. –Wisdom 1:1-16-2:1-24
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