1:1 Love justice, you who judge the earth; think of the LORD in goodness, and seek him in integrity of heart;
1:2 Because he is found by those who test him not, and he manifests himself to those who do not disbelieve him.
1:3 For perverse counsels separate a man from God, and his power, put to the proof, rebukes the foolhardy;
1:4 Because into a soul that plots evil wisdom enters not, nor dwells she in a body under debt of sin.
1:5 For the holy spirit of discipline flees deceit and withdraws from senseless counsels; and when injustice occurs it is rebuked.
1:6 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.
1:7 For the spirit of the LORD fills the world, is all-embracing, and knows what man says.
1:8 Therefore no one who utters wicked things can go unnoticed, 1 nor will chastising condemnation pass him by.
1:9 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;
1:10 Because a jealous ear hearkens to everything, and discordant grumblings are no secret.
1:11 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.
1:12 Court not death by your erring way of life, nor draw to yourselves destruction by the works of your hands.
1:13 Because God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.
1:14 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,
1:15 For justice is undying.
1:16 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,