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Chapter 1

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¹ Love justice, you who judge the earth; think of the LORD in goodness, and seek him in integrity of heart;

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Because he is found by those who test him not, and he manifests himself to those who do not disbelieve him.

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For perverse counsels separate a man from God, and his power, put to the proof, rebukes the foolhardy;

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Because into a soul that plots evil wisdom enters not, nor dwells she in a body under debt of sin.

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² For the holy spirit of discipline flees deceit and withdraws from senseless counsels; and when injustice occurs it is rebuked.

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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.

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³ For the spirit of the LORD fills the world, is all-embracing, and knows what man says.

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Therefore no one who utters wicked things can go unnoticed, nor will chastising condemnation pass him by.

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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;

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Because a jealous ear hearkens to everything, and discordant grumblings are no secret.

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⁴ 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.

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Court not death by your erring way of life, nor draw to yourselves destruction by the works of your hands.

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Because God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.

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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,

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For justice is undying.

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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,