1 A record of what Asher told his sons in the hundred and twenty-fifth year of his life. 2 While he was still in good health, he said to them: Listen, children of Asher, to your father, and I will declare to you all that is upright in the sight of the Lord. 3 God has given two ways to humanity, two inclinations, two kinds of action, two ways of acting, and two outcomes.⁠a 4 So all things come in pairs, one set against the other. 5 For there are two ways, of good and of evil, and with them are the two inclinations within us that tell them apart. 6 So if the soul takes pleasure in the good inclination, all its actions are righteous, and if it sins, it repents at once. 7 For with its thoughts set on righteousness and casting away wickedness, it immediately overthrows the evil and uproots the sin. 8 But if it leans toward the evil inclination, all its actions are wicked; it drives away the good, clings to the evil, and is ruled by Beliar. Even when it does something good, Beliar twists it into evil. 9 For whenever it begins to do good, Beliar forces the outcome of the action into evil for him, since the storehouse of his inclination is filled with an evil spirit.