1Desire not a multitude of unprofitable children,
Neither delight in ungodly sons.

2If they multiply, delight not in them,
Except the fear of the Lord be with them.

3Trust not thou in their life,
Neither rely on their condition:
For one is better than a thousand;
And to die childless than to have ungodly children.

4For from one that hath understanding shall a city be peopled;
But a race of wicked men shall be made desolate.

5Many such things have I seen with mine eyes;
And mine ear hath heard mightier things than these.

6In the congregation of sinners shall a fire be kindled;
And in a disobedient nation wrath is kindled.

7He was not pacified toward the giants of old time,
Who revolted in their strength.

8He spared not those with whom Lot sojourned,
Whom he abhorred for their pride.

9He pitied not the people of perdition,
Who were taken away in their sins.

10And in like manner the six hundred thousand footmen,
Who were gathered together in the hardness of their hearts.

11Even if there be one stiffnecked person,
It is marvel if he shall be unpunished:
For mercy and wrath are with him;
He is mighty to forgive, and he poureth out wrath.

12As his mercy is great, so is his correction also:
He judgeth a man according to his works.

13The sinner shall not escape with his plunder;
And the patience of the godly shall not be frustrate.

14He will make room for every work of mercy;
Each man shall find according to his works.

15
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17Say not thou, I shall be hidden from the Lord;
And who shall remember me from on high?
I shall not be known among so many people;
For what is my soul in a boundless creation?

18Behold, the heaven, and the heaven of heavens,
The deep, and the earth, shall be moved when he shall visit.

19The mountains and the foundations of the earth together
Are shaken with trembling, when he looketh upon them.

20And no heart shall think upon these things:
And who shall conceive his ways?

21And there is a tempest which no man shall see;
Yea, the more part of his works are ⁶⁵hid.

22Who shall declare the works of his righteousness?
Or who shall endure them?
For his covenant is afar off. ⁶⁶

23He that is wanting in ⁶⁷understanding thinketh upon these things;
And an unwise and erring man thinketh follies.

24My son, hearken unto me, and learn knowledge,
And give heed to my words with thy heart.

25I will shew forth instruction by weight,
And declare knowledge exactly.

26In the judgement of the Lord are his works from the beginning;
And from the making of them he disposed the parts thereof.

27He garnished his works for ever,
And the beginnings of them unto their generations:
They neither hunger, nor are weary,
And they cease not from their works.

28No one thrusteth aside his neighbour;
And they shall never disobey his word.

29After this also the Lord looked upon the earth,
And filled it with his blessings.

30⁶⁸⁶⁹All manner of living things covered the face thereof;
And into it is their return.