Font Size
Wisdom 1
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Wisdom 1
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.
8 Therefore those who utter wicked things will not go unnoticed,
nor will chastising condemnation pass them by.(J)
9 For the devices of the wicked shall be scrutinized,
and the sound of their words shall reach the Lord,
for the chastisement of their transgressions;
10 Because a jealous ear hearkens to everything,(K)
and discordant grumblings are not secret.
11 Therefore guard against profitless grumbling,
and from calumny[e] withhold your tongues;
For a stealthy utterance will not go unpunished,
and a lying mouth destroys the soul.
12 Do not court death[f] by your erring way of life,
nor draw to yourselves destruction by the works of your hands.
13 Because God did not make death,(L)
nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.
14 For he fashioned all things that they might have being,
and the creatures of the world are wholesome;
There is not a destructive drug among them
nor any domain of Hades[g] on earth,
15 For righteousness is undying.[h](M)
The Wicked Reject Immortality and Righteousness Alike
16 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 allied with it.(N)
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.
- 1:11 Calumny: speech against God and divine providence is meant.
- 1:12 Death: as will become clear, the author is not speaking of physical death but of spiritual death, the eternal separation from God.
- 1:14 Hades: the Greek term for the Hebrew Sheol, the dwelling place of the dead.
- 1:15 Undying: immortality is not seen as an innate quality of the soul but as a gift of God to the righteous.
Wisdom 1
Good News Translation
Wisdom 1
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. 8 No one who speaks wickedly will escape notice; sooner or later he will receive just punishment. 9 The intentions of ungodly people will be closely examined; their words will be reported to the Lord, and then they will get the punishment that their wickedness deserves. 10 God will tolerate no challenge, and since he hears everything, you cannot hide your complaining from him. 11 So be sure that you do not go around complaining—it does no good—and don't engage in bitter talk. The most secret things you say will have their consequences, and lying will destroy your soul.
God Did Not Create Death
12 Do not bring on your own death by sinful actions. 13 (B)God did not invent death, and when living creatures die, it gives him no pleasure. 14 He created everything so that it might continue to exist, and everything he created is wholesome and good. There is no deadly poison in them. No, death does not rule this world, 15 for God's justice does not die.
16 (C)Ungodly people have brought death on themselves by the things they have said and done. They yearn for death as if it were a lover. They have gone into partnership with death, and it is just what they deserve.
Wisdom 1
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Wisdom 1
New Revised Standard Version 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,
8 therefore those who utter unrighteous things will not escape notice,
and justice, when it punishes, will not pass them by.
9 For inquiry will be made into the counsels of the ungodly,
and a report of their words will come to the Lord,
to convict them of their lawless deeds;
10 because a jealous ear hears all things,
and the sound of grumbling does not go unheard.
11 Beware then of useless grumbling,
and keep your tongue from slander;
because no secret word is without result,[a]
and a lying mouth destroys the soul.
12 Do not invite death by the error of your life,
or bring on destruction by the works of your hands;
13 because God did not make death,
and he does not delight in the death of the living.
14 For he created all things so that they might exist;
the generative forces[b] of the world are wholesome,
and there is no destructive poison in them,
and the dominion[c] of Hades is not on earth.
15 For righteousness is immortal.
Life as the Ungodly See It
16 But the ungodly by their words and deeds summoned death;[d]
considering him a friend, they pined away
and made a covenant with him,
because they are fit to belong to his company.
Footnotes
- Wisdom 1:11 Or will go unpunished
- Wisdom 1:14 Or the creatures
- Wisdom 1:14 Or palace
- Wisdom 1:16 Gk him
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Good News Translation (GNT) 
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.