For wisdom is a spirit that loveth man, and she will not hold a blasphemer guiltless for his lips; because God beareth witness of his reins, and is a true overseer of his heart, and a hearer of his tongue: Because the spirit of the Lord hath filled the world, and that which holdeth all things together hath knowledge of every voice. Therefore no man that uttereth unrighteous things shall be unseen; neither shall Justice, when it convicteth, pass him by. For in the midst of his counsels the ungodly shall be searched out; and the sound of his words shall come unto the Lord to bring to conviction his lawless deeds: Because there is an ear of jealousy that listeneth to all things, and the noise of murmurings is not hid. Beware then of unprofitable murmuring, and refrain your tongue from backbiting; because no secret utterance shall go on its way void, and a mouth that belieth destroyeth a soul. Court not death in the error of your life; neither draw upon yourselves destruction by the works of your hands: Because God made not death; neither delighteth he when the living perish: For he created all things that they might have being: and the generative powers of the world are healthsome, and there is no poison of destruction in them: nor hath Hades royal dominion upon earth: For righteousness is immortal: But ungodly men by their hands and their words called death unto them: deeming him a friend they consumed away, and they made a covenant with him, because they are worthy to be of his portion. * * * * * =2= For they said within themselves, reasoning not aright, Short and sorrowful is our life; and there is no healing when a man cometh to his end, and none was ever known that gave release from Hades. Because by mere chance were we born, and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been: because the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and while our heart beateth reason is a spark, Which being extinguished, the body shall be turned into ashes, and the spirit shall be dispersed as thin air; And our name shall be forgotten in time, and no man shall remember our works; and our life shall pass away as the traces of a cloud, and shall be scattered as is a mist, when it is chased by the beams of the sun, and overcome by the heat thereof. For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow, and our end retreateth not; because it is fast sealed, and none turneth it back. Come therefore and let us enjoy the good things that now are; and let us use the creation with all our soul as youth’s possession. Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and perfumes; and let no flower of spring pass us by: Let us crown ourselves with rose-buds, before they be withered: Let none of us go without his share in our proud revelry: everywhere let us leave tokens of our mirth; because this is our portion, and our lot is this.