Proverbs

²⁶As vinegar to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who employ and send him. ²⁷The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord prolongs one's days, but the years of the wicked shall be made short. ²⁸The hope of the [uncompromisingly] righteous (the upright, in right standing with God) is gladness, but the expectation of the wicked (those who are out of harmony with God) comes to nothing. ²⁹The way of the Lord is strength and a stronghold to the upright, but it is destruction to the workers of iniquity. ³⁰The [consistently] righteous shall never be removed, but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth [eventually]. [Ps. 37:22; 125:1.] ³¹The mouths of the righteous (those harmonious with God) bring forth skillful and godly Wisdom, but the perverse tongue shall be cut down [like a barren and rotten tree]. ³²The lips of the [uncompromisingly] righteous know [and therefore utter] what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked knows [and therefore speaks only] what is obstinately willful and contrary.