“ They shall not be plucked up all the days of heaven: For the portion and the inheritance of God is Israel. But not so are the sinners and transgressors, Who love the brief day spent in companionship with their sin; Their delight is in fleeting corruption, And they remember not God. For the ways of men are known before Him at all times, And He knoweth the secrets of the heart before they come to pass. Therefore their inheritance is Sheol and darkness and destruction And they shall not be found in the day when the righteous obtain mercy; But the pious of the Lord shall inherit life in gladness. ”

“ When my soul slumbered being afar from the Lord, I had all but slipped down to the pit, When I was far from God, my soul had been well-nigh poured out unto death, I had been nigh unto the gates of Sheol with the sinner, When my soul departed from the Lord God of Israel— Had not the Lord helped me with His everlasting mercy. ”

“ O Lord God, I will praise Thy name with joy, In the midst of them that know Thy righteous judgements. For Thou art good and merciful, the refuge of the poor; When I cry to Thee, do not silently disregard me. For no man taketh spoil from a mighty man; Who, then, can take aught of a that Thou hast made, except Thou Thyself givest? For man and his portion lie before Thee in the balance ”

“ May God remove far from the innocent the lips of transgressors by bringing them to want And may the bones of slanderers be scattered far away from them that fear the Lord! In flaming fire perish the slanderous tongue far away from the pious! May the Lord preserve the quiet soul that hateth the unrighteous; And may the Lord establish the man that followeth peace at home. The salvation of the Lord be upon Israel His servant for ever; And let the sinners perish together at the presence of the Lord ”

“ Turn, O God, Thy mercy upon us, and have pity upon us; Gather together the dispersed of Israel, with mercy and goodness; For Thy faithfulness is with us, And though we have stiffened our neck, yet Thou art our chastener; Overlook us not, O our God, lest the nations swallow us up, as though there were none to deliver. ”

“ He maketh atonement for sins of ignorance by fasting and afflicting his soul, And the Lord counteth guiltless every pious man and his house. The sinner stumbleth and curseth his life The day when he was begotten, and his mother's travail. He addeth sins to sins, while he liveth; He falleth—verily grievous is his fall—and riseth no more. The destruction of the sinner is for ever, And he shall not be remembered, when the righteous is visited. This is the portion of sinners for ever. ”

“ They defiled Jerusalem and the things that had been hallowed to the name of God. But God hath shown Himself righteous in His judgements upon the nations of the earth; And the pious servants of God are like innocent lambs in their midst. Worthy to be praised is the Lord that judgeth the whole earth in His righteousness.
Behold, now, O God, Thou hast shown us Thy judgement in Thy righteousness; Our eyes have seen Thy judgements, O God. We have justified Thy name that is honoured for ever; For Thou are the God of righteousness, judging Israel with chastening. ”

“ Where, then, can a man hide himself from Thy knowledge, O God? Our works are subject to our own choice and power To do right or wrong in the works of our hands; And in Thy righteousness Thou visitest the sons of men. He that doeth righteousness layeth up life for himself with the Lord; And he that doeth wrongly forfeits his life to destruction; For the judgements of the Lord are given in righteousness to every man and his house. ”

“ When Israel was led away captive into a strange land, When they fell away from the Lord who redeemed them, They were cast away from the inheritance, which the Lord had given them. Among every nation were the dispersed of Israel according to the word of God, That Thou mightest be justified, O God, in Thy righteousness by reason of our transgressions: For Thou art a just judge over all the peoples of the earth. For from Thy knowledge none that doeth unjustly is hidden, And the righteous deeds of Thy pious ones are before Thee, O Lord ”

“ Thy chastisement is upon us as upon a first-born, only-begotten son, To turn back the obedient soul from folly that is wrought in ignorance. May God cleanse Israel against the day of mercy and blessing, Against the day of choice when Blessed shall they be that shall be in those days, He bringeth back His anointed. ”

“ But Thy gift is great in goodness and wealth, And he whose hope is set on Thee shall have no lack of gifts. Upon the whole earth is Thy mercy, O Lord, in goodness.
Happy is he whom God remembereth in granting to him a due sufficiency; If a man abound overmuch, he sinneth. Sufficient are moderate means with righteousness, And hereby the blessing of the Lord becomes abundance with righteousness. They that fear the Lord rejoice in good gifts, And thy goodness is upon Israel in Thy kingdom. ”

“ The righteous remember the Lord at all times, With thanksgiving and declaration of the righteousness of the Lord's judgements. The righteous despiseth not the chastening of the Lord; His will is always before the Lord. ”

“ They wandered in deserts that their lives might be saved from harm, And precious in the eyes of them that lived abroad was any that escaped alive from them. Over the whole earth were they scattered by lawless men. For the heavens withheld the rain from dropping upon the earth, Springs were stopped that sprang perennially out of the deeps, that ran down from lofty mountains. For there was none among them that wrought righteousness and justice ”

“ Chapter 4 A conversation of Solomon with the Men-pleasers.
Wherefore sittest thou, O profane man, in the council of the pious, Seeing that thy heart is far removed from the Lord, Provoking with transgressions the God of Israel? Extravagant in speech, extravagant in outward seeming beyond all men, Is he that is severe of speech in condemning sinners in judgement. And his hand is first upon him as though he acted in zeal, And yet he is himself guilty in respect of manifold sins and of wantonness. His eyes are upon every woman without distinction ”

“ Murmuring, and impatience in affliction, remove far from me When, if I sin, Thou chastenest me that I may return unto Thee. But with goodwill and cheerfulness support my soul; When Thou strengthenest my soul, what is given to me will be sufficient for me. ”

“ He will, be mighty in his works, and strong in the fear of God, He will be shepherding the flock of the Lord faithfully and righteously, And will suffer none among them to stumble in their pasture. He will lead them all aright, And there will be no pride among them that any among them should be oppressed. This will be the majesty of the king of Israel whom God knoweth; He will raise him up over the house of Israel to correct him. ”

“ For if Thou givest not strength, Who can endure chastisement with poverty? When a man is rebuked by means of his corruption, Thy testing of him is in his flesh and in the affliction of poverty. If the righteous endureth in all these trials, he shall receive mercy from the Lord. ”

“ Famine and sword and pestilence shall be far from the righteous, For they shall flee away from the pious as men pursued in war; But they shall pursue sinners and overtake them, And they that do lawlessness shall not escape the judgement of God ”

“ For he shall not put his trust in horse and rider and bow, Nor shall he multiply for himself gold and silver for war,
Nor shall he gather confidence from a multitude for the day of battle. The Lord Himself is his king, the hope of him that is mighty through his hope in God. ”

“ O God, when we are in distress we call upon Thee for help, And Thou dost not turn back our petition, for Thou art our God. Cause not Thy hand to be heavy upon us, Lest through necessity we sin. Even though Thou restore us not, we will not keep away ”

“ Unto whom art Thou good, O God, except to them that call upon the Lord? He cleanseth from sins a soul when it maketh confession, when it maketh acknowledgement; For shame is upon us and u on our faces on account of all these things. ”

“ Let the flesh of the men-pleasers be rent by wild beasts, And let the bones of the lawless lie dishonoured in the sight of the sun. Let ravens peck out the eyes of the hypocrites. For they have laid waste many houses of men, in dishonour, And scattered them in their lust ”

“ Let him fail dishonourably in every work of his hands. Let him come home empty-handed to his house, And his house be void of everything wherewith he could sate his appetite. Let his old age be spent in childless loneliness until his removal by death. ”

“ His tongue lieth when he maketh contract with an oath. By night and in secret he sinneth as though unseen, With his eyes he talketh to every woman of evil compacts. He is swift to enter every house with cheerfulness as though guileless. ”

“ The steadfastness of the righteous is from God, their deliverer; There lodgeth not in the house of the righteous sin upon sin. The righteous continually searcheth his house, To remove utterly all iniquity done by him in error. ”

“ Let God reveal the deeds of the men-pleasers, The deeds of such an one with laughter and derision; That the pious may count righteous the judgement of their God, When sinners are removed from before the righteous, Even the man-pleaser who uttereth law guilefully. And their eyes are fixed upon any man's house that is still secure, That they may, like the Serpent, destroy the wisdom of . ”

“ And have mercy on the righteous, delivering him from the affliction of the sinner, And recompensing the sinner for what he bath done to the righteous. For the Lord is good to them that call upon Him in patience, Doing according to His mercy to His pious ones, Establishing them at all times before Him in strength. ”