The Way of Death

And the way of death is this. First of all it is evil and full of curse: murders, adulteries, cravings, sexual immorality, thefts, idolatries, magic arts, potions and spells, robberies, false testimony, hypocrisies, a divided heart, deceit, arrogance, malice, stubbornness, greed, filthy talk, jealousy, presumption, conceit, boasting.

It is the way of persecutors of good people, who hate truth and love a lie, who do not know the reward for righteousness, who hold neither to what is good nor to fair judgment, who lie awake not for good but for evil. Gentleness and endurance are far from them. They love worthless things and chase after a reward. They have no pity for a poor man and do not trouble themselves over the oppressed. They do not know the one who made them. They murder children and destroy what God has formed. They turn away from the needy and grind down the afflicted. They are advocates for the rich and lawless judges of the poor — sinners through and through. Children, may you be rescued from all of these. [a]