Psalms of Solomon 4

1 Why do you, one who treats holy things as common, sit in the council of the holy when your heart has withdrawn far from the Lord and you provoke the God of Israel through lawbreaking?

2 You are excessive in words and more conspicuous than everyone else, harshly condemning sinners at judgment.

3 His hand is the first raised against a sinner, as though he were zealous, yet he himself is guilty of many kinds of sin and lack of self-control.

4 His eyes are on every woman without distinction, and his tongue lies in sworn agreements.

5 At night and in secret he sins as though no one sees him. With his eyes he speaks to every woman, arranging evil, and he quickly enters every house cheerfully as though innocent.

6 May God remove from among the holy those who live in hypocrisy, bringing decay to their flesh and poverty to their lives.

7 May God expose the works of those who seek human approval, making their deeds an object of laughter and ridicule.

8 Then the holy ones will affirm their God’s judgment as righteous when a sinner who seeks human approval and speaks the law deceitfully is removed from the righteous person’s presence.

9 Their eyes are fixed on the house of a prosperous man. Like a snake, they destroy the wisdom of others with lawbreakers’ words.

10 His words are deceitful arguments meant to carry out an unrighteous desire. He did not stop until he succeeded in scattering them as though they were orphans.

11 He left a house desolate because of his lawbreaking desire. He deceived with words, reasoning that no one sees or judges.

12 He was filled with this lawbreaking, and then his eyes turned toward another house to destroy it with words that stir up desire.

13 His soul is not satisfied by all these things, any more than Hades is.

14 Lord, may his portion before you be dishonor; may his departure be accompanied by groaning and his arrival by a curse.

15 Lord, may his life be filled with pain, poverty, and need; may his sleep be filled with sorrow and his waking with distress.

16 May sleep be taken from his temples at night, and may he fail disgracefully in every work of his hands.

17 May he enter his house empty-handed, and may his house lack everything with which he would fill his soul.

18 May his old age be solitary and childless until he is taken away.

19 May wild animals scatter the flesh of those who seek human approval, and may the bones of lawbreakers lie dishonored in broad daylight.

20 May ravens peck out the eyes of hypocrites, because they dishonorably devastated many people’s homes and scattered their occupants to satisfy their desire.

21 They did not remember God or fear him in any of these things; instead, they angered and provoked God.

22 May God remove them from the earth, because they acted as hypocrites toward innocent souls through deceitful reasoning.

23 Blessed are those who fear the Lord in their innocence. The Lord will rescue them from deceitful people and sinners, and he will rescue us from every lawless stumbling block.

24 May God remove those who arrogantly commit every kind of wrongdoing, because the Lord our God is a great and mighty judge who acts in righteousness.

25 Lord, may your mercy rest on all who love you.