(This excerpt is taken from The Apocrapha An American Translation by: Edgar J. Goodspeed. Vintage Books (A Division of Random House) New York. C. 1959. 1938.
1 LOVE UPRIGHTNESS, YOU WHO JUDGE THE LAND,
Think of the Lord with goodness,
And seek him with sincerity of heart.
2 For he is found by those who do not try him,
And is manifested to those who do not disbelieve him.
3 For crooked reasonings separate from God,
And when his power is tested, it exposes fools.
4 For wisdom cannot enter a deceitful soul,
Or live in a body in debt to sin.
5 For the holy spirit of instruction will flee from deceit,
And will rise and leave at unwise reasoning,
And be put to confusion at the approach of wrong.
6 For wisdom is a kindly spirit,
And will not acquit a blasphemer of what he says,
For God is a witness of his heart,
And a truthful observer of his mind,
And a hearer of his tongue.
7 For the spirit of the Lord fills the world,
And that which embraces all things knows all that is said.
8 Therefore no one who utters what is wrong will go unobserved,
Nor will justice, in its investigation, pass him by.
9 For there will be an inquiry into the designs of the ungodly,
And the sound of his words will reach the Lord,
to convict him of his transgressions.
10. For a jealous ear hears everything,
And the sound of grumbling is not hidden.
11 So beware of useless grumbling,
And spare your tongue from slander;
For no secret word goes for naught,
And a lying mouth destroys the soul.
12 Do not invite death by the error of your life,
Or incur destruction by the work of your hands;
13 For God did not make death,
And he does not enjoy the destruction of the living.
14 For he created everything to exist,
And there is no poisonous drug in them,
And the kingdom of Hades is not on earth.
15 For uprightness is immortal.
16 But ungodly men by their acts and words have summoned him,
They thought him their friend, and softened,
And made an agreement with him,
For they are fit to belong to his party.
(To be continued...)
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