1
O death, how bitter is the memory of you to a man who is at peace in his possessions,
2
O death, your sentence is acceptable to a man who is needy and who fails in strength,
3
Don’t be afraid of the sentence of death.
4
And why do you refuse when it is the good pleasure of the Most High? there is no enquiry about life in Hades.[a]
5
The children of sinners are abominable children
6
The inheritance of sinners’ children will perish
7
Children will complain of an ungodly father,
8
Woe to you, ungodly men, who have forsaken the law of the Most High God![b]
9
If you are born, you will be born to a curse.
10
All things that are of the earth will go back to the earth;
11
The mourning of men is about their bodies;
12
Have regard for your name,
13
A good life has its number of days,
14
My children, follow instruction in peace.
15
Better is a man who hides his foolishness
16
Therefore show respect for my words;
17
Be ashamed of sexual immorality before father and mother,
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of an offence before a judge and ruler,
19
and of theft in the place where you sojourn.
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of silence before those who greet you,
21
of turning away your face from a kinsman,
22
of meddling with his maid—and don’t come near her bed,
23
of repeating and speaking what you have heard,
24
So you will be ashamed of the right things