1 Better than this is childishness with virtue; For in the memory of virtue is immortality: Because it is recognized both before God and before men.
2 When it is present, men imitate it; And they long after it when it is departed: And throughout all time it marcheth crowned in triumph, Victorious in the strife for the prizes that are undefiled.
3 But the multiplying brood of the ungodly shall be of no profit, And with bastard slips they shall not strike deep root, Nor shall they establish a sure hold.
4 For even if these put forth boughs and flourish for a season, q1 Yet, standing unsure, they shall be shaken by the wind, And by the violence of winds they shall be rooted out.
5 Their branches shall be broken off before they come to maturity, and their fruit shall be useless, Never ripe to eat, and fit for nothing.
6 For children unlawfully begotten are witnesses of wickedness Against parents when God searcheth them out.