Do not court death by the error of your life or bring on destruction by the works of your hands,

Life as the Ungodly See It

But the ungodly by their words and deeds summoned death; considering him a friend, they pined away and made a covenant with him, because they are fit to belong to his company.

For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves, “Short and sorrowful is our life, and there is no remedy when a life comes to its end, and no one has been known to return from Hades.

Our name will be forgotten in time, and no one will remember our works; our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud and be scattered like mist that is chased by the rays of the sun and overcome by its heat.

because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange.

Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life,

but understanding is gray hair for anyone, and a blameless life is ripe old age.

there is for all one entrance into life and one way out.

If riches are a desirable possession in life, what is richer than wisdom, the active cause of all things?

And if anyone loves righteousness, her labors are virtues, for she teaches self-control and prudence, justice and courage; nothing in life is more profitable for mortals than these.

When I enter my house, I shall find rest with her, for companionship with her has no bitterness, and life with her has no pain but gladness and joy.

The Punishment of the Egyptians

Therefore those who lived unrighteously, in a life of folly, you tormented through their own abominations.

A skilled woodcutter may saw down a tree easy to handle and skillfully strip off all its bark and then with pleasing workmanship make a useful vessel that serves life’s needs

When he prays about possessions and his marriage and children, he is not ashamed to address a lifeless thing. For health he appeals to a thing that is weak;

for life he prays to a thing that is dead; for aid he entreats a thing that is utterly inexperienced; for a prosperous journey, a thing that cannot take a step;

The Origin and Evils of Idolatry

For the idea of making idols was the beginning of sexual immorality, and the invention of them was the corruption of life,

for because they trust in lifeless idols they swear wicked oaths and expect to suffer no harm.

whose appearance arouses yearning in fools, so that they desire the lifeless form of a dead image.

But the workers are not concerned that mortals are destined to die or that their life is brief, but they compete with workers in gold and silver and imitate workers in copper, and they count it a glorious thing to mold counterfeit gods.

But they considered our existence an idle game and life a festival held for profit, for they say one must get money however one can, even by base means.

People are mortal, and what they make with lawless hands is dead, for they are better than the objects they worship, since they have life, but the idols never had.

For you have power over life and death; you lead mortals down to the gates of Hades and back again.