³¹ If the upright man is rewarded on earth, how much more the evil-doer and the sinner!

²⁹ For see, I am starting to send evil on the town which is named by my name, and are you to be without any punishment? You will not be without punishment: for I will send a sword on all people living on the earth, says the Lord of armies.

¹⁴ I will be to him a father and he will be to me a son: if he does wrong, I will give him punishment with the rod of men and with the blows of the children of men;

¹⁵ But my mercy will not be taken away from him, as I took it from him who was before you.

⁹ Why then have you had no respect for the word of the Lord, doing what is evil in his eyes? You have put Uriah the Hittite to death with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife; you have put him to death with the sword of the children of Ammon.

¹⁰ So now the sword will never be turned away from your family; because you have had no respect for me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

¹¹ The Lord says, From those of your family I will send evil against you, and before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to your neighbour, and he will take your wives to his bed by the light of this sun.

¹² You did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel and in the light of the sun.

²⁴ And he went on his way; but on the road a lion came rushing at him and put him to death; and his dead body was stretched in the road with the ass by its side, and the lion was there by the body.

²¹ Evil will overtake sinners, but the upright will be rewarded with good.

³⁰ For this cause a number of you are feeble and ill, and a number are dead.

³¹ But if we were true judges of ourselves, punishment would not come on us.

³² But if punishment does come, it is sent by the Lord, so that we may be safe when the world is judged.

¹⁷ For the time has come for the judging, starting with the church of God; but if it makes a start with us, what will be the end of those who are not under the rule of God?

¹⁸ And if it is hard for even the good man to get salvation, what chance has the man without religion or the sinner?