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1You rulers of this earth[#Ws 6.1-11.]
should love justice;
you should do what is right
and keep the Lord in mind.
2The Lord will answer your prayers,
if you trust and don't doubt.
3Our deceitful thoughts
separate us from God,
and by putting God to the test,
we make fools of ourselves,
4because Wisdom won't live[#1.4 Wisdom: In this book, as in Proverbs 1.20—2.22; 8.1—9.6; Sirach 1.1-30; and Baruch 3.9—4.4, Wisdom is spoken of as a woman, or as supernatural being who was with God at the time of creation.]
with deceitful slaves of sin.
5A pure mind and self-control
won't let you be deceitful;
you will reject foolish thoughts
and hate injustice.
6Although Wisdom is friendly,
she will still hold you guilty
if you speak evil of God.
Even words spoken in secret
and our most private thoughts
are known to God,
7because the Spirit of the Lord
is everywhere in this world.
His Spirit holds it all together
and hears every word.
8And so liars will be judged
and then punished—
9their evil plans and deeds
will be discovered,
then reported to the Lord,
and they will be sentenced.
10Nothing can escape being heard,
not even a faint grumble.
11So stop all useless complaining
and fault-finding.
Even a faint whisper
can cause a problem,
and lies are deadly.
12Don't invite death
and destruction
by living like a fool.
13God did not create us for death,[#Ez 18.32; 33.11; 2 Esd 3.7; 2 P 3.9.]
and when we die,
it doesn't make him glad.
14God created all creatures
with life that continues.
All living beings
should keep on living
untouched by deadly poison,
because the Kingdom of Death
doesn't rule this world,
15and justice lives forever.
16The words and deeds[#Pr 8.36; Is 28.15; Si 14.12.]
of evil people
are an invitation to death.
They think of death
as friendly and desirable—
they are partners with death,
just as they deserve.