Wisdom of Solomon 1, 2
1 Love righteousness, you who judge on the earth.
Think about the Lord in goodness
And seek Him with sincerity of heart;
2 Because He is found by those who do not tempt Him,
And He is manifest to those who do not disbelieve Him.
3 For dishonest reasoning separates people from God,
And when His power examines someone,
It convicts the undiscerning;
4 For wisdom will not enter the soul that plots evil,
Nor will it dwell in a body involved in sin.
5 For a holy spirit of discipline flees from deceit
And sends away undiscerning reasoning;
It will put wrongdoing to shame when it comes near.
God Examines Our Actions
6 For wisdom is a spirit that loves mankind,
But she will punish a blasphemer because of his words;
For God is the witness of his thoughts,
The true examiner of his heart, and the hearer of his tongue;
7 Because the Spirit of the Lord fills the world,
And He who holds all things together knows what is said.
8 Therefore no one who speaks unrighteous things
Will escape notice,
Nor will justice, when it cross-examines, pass him by.
9 For there shall be a close examination
Into the deliberations of an ungodly man,
And a report of his words will come to the Lord
As proof of his lawlessness;
10 For the zealous ear hears all things,
And the noise of murmuring is not hidden.
11 Therefore keep yourself from useless murmuring
And refrain your tongue from evil speech;
For no secret word will go unpunished,
And a lying mouth will destroy one’s soul.
God Made Life, Not Death
12 Do not be zealous for death by the deceit of your life,
Nor bring destruction upon yourself by the works of your hands.
13 For God did not make death,
Neither does He have pleasure over the destruction of the living.
14 For He created all things that they might exist,
And the generations of the world so they might be preserved;
For there was no poison of death in them,
Nor was the reign of Hades on the earth.
15 For righteousness does not die.
16 But the ungodly summoned death by their words and works;
Although they thought death would be a friend, they were dissolved.
For they made a covenant with death,
Since they were deserving to share it in common.
An Ungodly View of Life
1 For they said among themselves, as they reasoned incorrectly:
“Our life is short and painful,
And there is no cure for the death of a man;
For no one has been known to return from Hades;
2 Because we were born by chance,
And after this we shall be as though we never existed;
For the breath in our nostrils is smoke,
And our speech is the spark kindled by the beating of our heart.
3 When the spark is extinguished, our body will turn to ashes,
And our breath will disperse like empty air.
4 Then our name will be forgotten in due time,
And no one will remember our works;
So our life will pass away like the trace of a cloud
And be scattered like fog,
Driven away by the rays of the sun
And oppressed by its heat.
5 For our appointed time is the passing of a shadow,
And there is no return from our death;
Because it is sealed up, no one can turn back.
6 Come, therefore, and let us enjoy the good things that exist,
And make the most of creation as quickly as possible,
As we did in our youth.
7 Let us be filled with expensive wine and perfumes,
And let no flower of springtime pass us by.
8 Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds
Before they wither away.
9 Let none of us fail to share in our arrogance.
Let us leave signs of our gladness everywhere,
Because this is our portion, and this is our lot.
10 Let us oppress the righteous poor man;
Let us not spare a widow,
Nor respect the aged gray hair of an old man.
11 Let our might be our law of righteousness,
For what is weak is shown to be useless.
Hatred of the Righteous
12 “Let us lie in ambush for the righteous man,
Because he is useless to us and opposes our deeds;
He denounces us for our sins against the law
And accuses us of sins against our upbringing.
13 He claims to have knowledge of God,
And he calls himself a child of the Lord.
14 He has become for us as a refutation of our purposes;
Even seeing him is a burden to us,
15 Because his life is unlike that of others;
For his paths go in a different direction.
16 We are considered by him as a hybrid,
And he avoids our ways as something immoral.
He considers the last things of the righteous as blessed
And pretends that God is his Father.
17 Let us see if his words are true,
And let us put these last things to the test at the end of his life.
18 For if the righteous man is a son of God, He will help him,
And deliver him from the hand of those who oppose him.
19 Let us test him with insult and torture
That we may know his gentleness
And test his patient endurance.
20 Let us condemn him to a shameful death,
For there shall be a visitation because of his words.”
21 So they reasoned these things
And were led astray,
For their malice blinded them.
22 But they did not know the mysteries of God,
Nor hope for the wages of holiness,
Nor judge the reward of blameless souls.
23 For God created man for immortality
And made him an image of His own eternity.
24 But death entered the world by the envy of the devil,
And those of his portion tempt it.
Psalm 52
1 For the End; for Mahaleth; concerning understanding; by David.
2 The fool said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt and abominable in lawlessness;
There is none who does good.
3 God looked from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there were any who understood or sought God.
4 All turned aside; they were all together rendered useless;
There is none who does good, not even one.
5 Do all the workers of lawlessness not know?
They eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God.
6 They were in great fear where no fear was,
For God scattered the bones of men-pleasers;
They were put to shame, because God scorned them.
7 Who will bring the salvation of Israel out of Zion?
When God brings back the captivity of His people,
Jacob will greatly rejoice, and Israel will be glad.
Psalm 53
1 For the End; in hymns; concerning understanding; by David;
2 when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is not David hiding with us?”
3 Save me, O God, in Your name,
And judge me in Your power.
4 O God, hear my prayer;
Give ear to the words of my mouth.
5 For strangers rise up against me,
And the powerful seek after my soul;
They have not set God before them.
(Pause)
6 For behold, God is my helper;
The Lord is the protector of my soul.
7 He will return evils to my enemies;
Utterly destroy them in Your truth.
8 I will sacrifice to You voluntarily;
I will give thanks to Your name, O Lord, for it is good.
9 You delivered me from all my afflictions,
And my eye looked upon my enemies.
Proverbs 11:6–10
6 When a righteous man dies, his hope does not perish,
But the boast of the ungodly perishes.
7 A righteous man escapes from a snare,
But the ungodly man is handed over in his place.
8 There is a snare for citizens in the mouth of the ungodly,
But the perception of the righteous is prosperous.
9 A city stays upright in the good things of the righteous,
But it is razed to the ground by the mouths of the ungodly.
10 A man in need of discernment treats citizens with contempt,
But a man of discernment keeps quiet.
1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1
14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
15 I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say.
16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
17 For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.
18 Observe Israel after the flesh: Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
19 What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything?
20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.
22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
All to the Glory of God
(cf. Ps. 24:1)
23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.
24 Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.
25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience’ sake;
26 for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.”
27 If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience’ sake.
28 But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience’ sake; for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.”
29 “Conscience,” I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience?
30 But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food over which I give thanks?
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
32 Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God,
33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.