9 A proper inquiry will be made into the plots of ungodly people. News of their words will reach the Lord and make their lawless deeds known.
10 God’s ear listens intently to everything anyone says. Murmurings can’t be kept secret for long.
11 So guard against useless murmuring. Keep your tongue from speaking ill. Everything you say has some consequence, even if you think that you are speaking in private. A lying mouth destroys the soul.
12 Don’t seek death through the error of your ways. Don’t invite destruction on yourself by what you do.
13 God didn’t make death. God takes no delight in the ruin of anything that lives.
14 God created everything so that it might exist. The creative forces at work in the cosmos are life-giving. There is no destructive poison in them. The underworld doesn’t rule on earth.
15 Doing what is right means living forever.