² God was looking down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who had wisdom, searching after God.

² And he came face to face with Asa and said to him, Give ear to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you while you are with him; if your heart's desire is for him, he will be near you, but if you give him up, he will give you up.

⁶ Make search for the Lord while he is there, make prayer to him while he is near:

¹⁰ The fear of the Lord is the best part of wisdom: all those who keep his laws are wise: his praise is eternal.

⁸ When you said, Make search for my face, my heart said to you, For your face will I make my search.

³ But still there is some good in you, for you have put away the wood pillars out of the land, and have given your heart to the worship of God.

²⁴ In what secret place may a man take cover without my seeing him? says the Lord. Is there any place in heaven or earth where I am not? says the Lord.

¹⁷ For my eyes are on all their ways: there is no cover for them from my face, and their evil-doing is not kept secret from my eyes.

¹⁹ For from his holy place the Lord has seen, looking down on the earth from heaven;

¹³ The Lord is looking down from heaven; he sees all the sons of men;

¹⁴ From his house he keeps watch on all who are living on the earth;

⁴ The Lord is in his holy Temple, the Lord's seat is in heaven; his eyes are watching and testing the children of men.

⁴ The evil-doer in his pride says, God will not make a search. All his thoughts are, There is no God.

²⁸ And he said to man, Truly the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to keep from evil is the way to knowledge.

⁹ And you, Solomon my son, get knowledge of the God of your father, and be his servant with a true heart and with a strong desire, for the Lord is the searcher of all hearts, and has knowledge of all the designs of men's thoughts; if you make search for him, he will be near you; but if you are turned away from him, he will give you up for ever.

⁶ So keep these laws and do them; for so will your wisdom and good sense be clear in the eyes of the peoples, who hearing all these laws will say, Truly, this great nation is a wise and far-seeing people.