> [[wisdom-00|← Previous]] | [[wisdom-00|TOC]] | [[wisdom-02|Next →]] --- # Wisdom, Chapter 1 ## Chapter 1 ### Exhortation to Righteousness, the Key to Life 1 Love righteousness, you who judge the earth; ^wisdom-01-1 think of the LORD in goodness, and seek him in integrity of heart; 2 Because he is found by those who do not test him, ^wisdom-01-2 and manifests himself to those who do not disbelieve him. 3 For perverse counsels separate people from God, ^wisdom-01-3 and his power, put to the proof, rebukes the foolhardy; 4 Because into a soul that plots evil wisdom does not enter, ^wisdom-01-4 nor does she dwell in a body under debt of sin. 5 For the holy spirit of discipline flees deceit ^wisdom-01-5 and withdraws from senseless counsels and is rebuked when unrighteousness occurs. 6 For wisdom is a kindly spirit, ^wisdom-01-6 yet she does not acquit blasphemous lips; Because God is the witness of the inmost self and the sure observer of the heart and the listener to the tongue. 7 For the spirit of the LORD fills the world, ^wisdom-01-7 is all-embracing, and knows whatever is said. 8 Therefore those who utter wicked things will not go unnoticed, ^wisdom-01-8 nor will chastising condemnation pass them by. 9 For the devices of the wicked shall be scrutinized, ^wisdom-01-9 and the sound of their words shall reach the LORD, for the chastisement of their transgressions; 10 Because a jealous ear hearkens to everything, ^wisdom-01-10 and discordant grumblings are not secret. 11 Therefore guard against profitless grumbling, ^wisdom-01-11 and from calumny withhold your tongues; For a stealthy utterance will not go unpunished, and a lying mouth destroys the soul. 12 Do not court death by your erring way of life, ^wisdom-01-12 nor draw to yourselves destruction by the works of your hands. 13 Because God did not make death, ^wisdom-01-13 nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. 14 For he fashioned all things that they might have being, ^wisdom-01-14 and the creatures of the world are wholesome; There is not a destructive drug among them nor any domain of Hades on earth, 15 For righteousness is undying. ^wisdom-01-15 ### The Wicked Reject Immortality and Righteousness Alike 16 It was the wicked who with hands and words invited death, ^wisdom-01-16 considered it a friend, and pined for it, and made a covenant with it, Because they deserve to be allied with it. \* (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. a. (1:1) [1 Chr 29:17]; ([[psalm-02|Ps 2]]:10]; [Is 26:9]. b. (1:1] – [2) [Sir 1:25]. c. (1:2) [1 Chr 28:9]. d. (1:3) [Is 59:2]. e. (1:4) [[sirach-15|Sir 15]]:7 – [8]; [Rom 7:14]. f. (1:5) [Is 63:10]. g. (1:6) [Jer 17:10]. h. (1:6] – [7) [Jer 23:24] – [25]. i. (1:7) [Wis 12:1]. j. (1:8) [Prv 19:5]. k. (1:10] – [11) [Nm 14:27] – [28]. l. (1:13] – [14) [[ezekiel-18|Ez 18]]:32; [33:11]; [2 Pt 3:9]. m. (1:15) [Is 51:6] – [8]. n. (1:16) [Is 28:15]. --- _New American Bible, revised edition_ (2010, 1991, 1986, 1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. > [[wisdom-00|← Previous]] | [[wisdom-00|TOC]] | [[wisdom-02|Next →]]