¹ Love uprightness you who are rulers on earth, be properly disposed towards the Lord and seek him in simplicity of heart;

² for he will be found by those who do not put him to the test, revealing himself to those who do not mistrust him.

³ Perverse thoughts, however, separate people from God, and power, when put to the test, confounds the stupid.

⁴ Wisdom will never enter the soul of a wrong-doer, nor dwell in a body enslaved to sin;

⁵ for the holy spirit of instruction flees deceitfulness, recoils from unintelligent thoughts, is thwarted by the onset of vice.

⁶ Wisdom is a spirit friendly to humanity, though she will not let a blasphemer's words go unpunished; since God observes the very soul and accurately surveys the heart, listening to every word.

⁷ For the spirit of the Lord fills the world, and that which holds everything together knows every word said.

⁸ No one who speaks what is wrong will go undetected, nor will avenging Justice pass by such a one.

⁹ For the schemes of the godless will be examined, and a report of his words will reach the Lord to convict him of his crimes.

¹⁰ There is a jealous ear that overhears everything, not even a murmur of complaint escapes it.

¹¹ So beware of uttering frivolous complaints, restrain your tongue from finding fault; even what is said in secret has repercussions, and a lying mouth deals death to the soul.

¹² Do not court death by the errors of your ways, nor invite destruction through the work of your hands.

¹³ For God did not make Death, he takes no pleasure in destroying the living.

¹⁴ To exist -- for this he created all things; the creatures of the world have health in them, in them is no fatal poison, and Hades has no power over the world:

¹⁵ for uprightness is immortal.

¹⁶ But the godless call for Death with deed and word, counting him friend, they wear themselves out for him; with him they make a pact, worthy as they are to belong to him.

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The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has become the most widely used Roman Catholic Bible outside of the United States. It has the imprimatur of Cardinal George Basil Hume.

Like its predecessor, the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) version is translated "directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic." The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jerusalem, is followed only "where the text admits to more than one interpretation." Introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jerusalem.

Source: The Very Reverend Dom (Joseph) Henry Wansbrough, OSB, MA (Oxon), STL (Fribourg), LSS (Rome), a monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a biblical scholar. He was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. "New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition", pg. v.

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