Wisdom 1:1-7
Good News Translation
The Search for Justice
1 (A)Love justice, you rulers of the world. Set your minds sincerely on the Lord, and look for him with all honesty. 2 Those who do not try to test him will find him; he will show himself to those who trust him. 3 Dishonest thoughts separate people from God, and if we are foolish enough to test him, his power will put us to shame. 4 Wisdom will never be at home with anyone who is deceitful or a slave of sin. 5 Everyone who is holy has learned to stay away from deceitful people. He will not stay around when foolish thoughts are being expressed; he will not feel comfortable when injustice is done.
God Is Aware of What We Say
6 Wisdom is a spirit that is friendly to people, but she will not forgive anyone who speaks against God, for God knows our feelings and thoughts, and hears our every word. 7 Since the Lord's spirit fills the entire world, and holds everything in it together, she knows every word that people say.
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Wisdom of Solomon 1:1-7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Exhortation to Uprightness
1 Love righteousness, you rulers of the earth;
think of the Lord in goodness
and seek him with sincerity of heart,(A)
2 because he is found by those who do not put him to the test
and manifests himself to those who do not distrust him.(B)
3 For perverse thoughts separate people from God,
and when his power is tested, it exposes the foolish,(C)
4 because wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul
or dwell in a body enslaved to sin.
5 For a holy and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit
and will leave foolish thoughts behind
and will be ashamed at the approach of unrighteousness.(D)
6 For wisdom is a kindly spirit,
but it will not free blasphemers from the guilt of their words,
because God is witness of their inmost feelings
and a true observer of their hearts and a hearer of their tongues.(E)
7 Because the spirit of the Lord has filled the world
and that which holds all things together knows what is said,(F)
Wisdom 1:1-7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
I. The Reward of Righteousness[a]
Chapter 1
Exhortation to Righteousness, the Key to Life
1 Love righteousness,[b] you who judge the earth;(A)
think of the Lord in goodness,
and seek him in integrity of heart;(B)
2 Because he is found by those who do not test him,
and manifests himself to those who do not disbelieve him.(C)
3 For perverse counsels separate people from God,
and his power, put to the proof, rebukes the foolhardy;(D)
4 [c]Because into a soul that plots evil wisdom does not enter,
nor does she dwell in a body under debt of sin.(E)
5 For the holy spirit of discipline[d] flees deceit
and withdraws from senseless counsels
and is rebuked when unrighteousness occurs.(F)
6 For wisdom is a kindly spirit,
yet she does not acquit blasphemous lips;
Because God is the witness of the inmost self(G)
and the sure observer of the heart
and the listener to the tongue.(H)
7 For the spirit of the Lord fills the world,(I)
is all-embracing, and knows whatever is said.
Footnotes
- 1:1–6:21 The reward is the gift of immortality, to the righteous (1:15; 3:1–3), but not to the wicked (5:1–13). Contrasts between these two groups dominate chaps. 1–5. The philosophy of the wicked and their persecution of the righteous are dramatically presented in 1:16–2:24. New light is shed on the suffering of the righteous (3:1–9), childlessness (3:13–15), and premature death (4:7–16)—in contrast to the fate of the wicked (3:10–12, 16–19; 4:3–6, 17–20).
- 1:1 Righteousness: not merely the cardinal virtue of justice (cf. 8:7), but the universal moral quality which is the application of wisdom to moral conduct. You who judge: “judges” and “kings” (cf. 6:1) are addressed in accordance with the literary customs of the times and with the putative Solomonic authorship, but the real audience is the Jewish community.
- 1:4 In these verses personified Wisdom is identified with the spirit of the Lord; so also in 9:17.
- 1:5 Discipline: here and elsewhere, another name for Wisdom.
Wisdom 1:1-7
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition
Exhortation to Uprightness
1 Love righteousness, you rulers of the earth,
think of the Lord in goodness
and seek him with sincerity of heart;
2 because he is found by those who do not put him to the test,
and manifests himself to those who do not distrust him.
3 For perverse thoughts separate people from God,
and when his power is tested, it exposes the foolish;
4 because wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul,
or dwell in a body enslaved to sin.
5 For a holy and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit,
and will leave foolish thoughts behind,
and will be ashamed at the approach of unrighteousness.
6 For wisdom is a kindly spirit,
but will not free blasphemers from the guilt of their words;
because God is witness of their inmost feelings,
and a true observer of their hearts, and a hearer of their tongues.
7 Because the spirit of the Lord has filled the world,
and that which holds all things together knows what is said,
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