Wisdom 5
Common English Bible
Final judgment
5 Then the one who did do what was right will stand up with full confidence in the very midst of those who caused his suffering and made light of his distress. 2 They will tremble with great fear when they see him. They will be amazed that he was delivered so unexpectedly. 3 They will sing a different tune as they gasp and say to themselves: 4 He’s the one we mocked?! He’s the one we insulted? What idiots we were! We thought his life was madness and his death a disgrace. 5 How is it that he’s now counted among God’s children? How is it that he’s now considered one of the saints?
6 Clearly we were the ones who missed the way to truth. The light that would have shown us the right thing to do hasn’t shone for us. That sun didn’t rise upon us. 7 We got entangled in lawlessness and destruction. We wandered through desolate wildernesses. We didn’t know the Lord’s way.
8 What good did our pride do us? What good were our wealth and pretension? 9 These things have all passed away like a shadow. They’re gone like old news. 10 They’re gone like a ship passing through a storm-tossed sea: once it has passed, it leaves no trace of its passing; its keel leaves no lasting mark on the waves. 11 That’s all disappeared in the way a bird flies through the air and leaves no hint of its path: it beats its wings against the thin air, dives with a rush, uses its wings to circle round—yet afterward there’s no sign in the air that the bird was ever there. 12 It’s all vanished like an arrow that’s shot at its target: the air opens up as the arrow flies through it but immediately closes up behind the arrow, and no one can detect any trace of the arrow’s path.
13 That’s us! We came into being, and almost immediately afterward, we died. We leave behind no evidence of virtue. We squandered what we had in bad living.
14 The ungodly person’s hope disappears like dust in the wind, like frost that is stripped away and scattered by a mighty wind, like smoke that rises and is immediately dispersed by the wind, like the memory of a stranger who spends the day and then is gone.
15 In contrast, those who do the right thing live forever. Their reward comes from the Lord. The Most High takes care of them. 16 For this reason, they will receive a lovely palace and a beautiful royal crown from the Lord himself. With his right hand he shelters them and with his right arm he protects them. 17 For his weapon, the Lord will take his zeal. He will arm creation itself for the fight against his foes. 18 He will put on justice as his body armor. He will strap on honest judgment as his helmet. 19 He will take up holiness as a shield that can never be beaten down. 20 He will sharpen his fierce anger into a sword.
The cosmos itself will join with him to defeat those who have wandered from reason. 21 Shafts of lightning will strike with precision. They will leap from the clouds as if shot from a well-bent bow, and they will hit their target every time. 22 Showers of hail will rain down upon them as if shot from a catapult that never stops firing. The sea’s waters will rage against them, and rivers will rise up and wash over them in a fury. 23 A powerful wind will blow against them and like a whirlwind, it will scatter them. Lawlessness will turn the whole earth into a desert. Evildoing will pull down the thrones of the powerful.
Wisdom 5
Good News Translation
The Regrets of the Wicked
5 On that day someone righteous, full of confidence, will stand before those who oppressed him and made light of his labors. 2 They will be amazed to see him safe and will tremble with terrible fear. 3 Then they will regret what they did, and groaning in anguish they will say to each other:
4 This is the one we made fun of. We thought he was a joke. What fools we were! We thought he was crazy to live the way he did, and when he died, we didn't honor him. 5 And now here he is, one of God's own children, with a place of his own among God's people. 6 We were the ones who wandered off the right road. We never lived in the light of righteousness; we never caught the first glimmer of its light. 7 All our lives we wandered across unmarked deserts, instead of following the road which the Lord wanted us to travel. And this lawlessness led us to ruin. 8 We were so proud of ourselves—we bragged about how rich we were—and now, what good has it done us? 9 All those things are gone now; they have disappeared like a shadow, like something you hear and then forget.
10 A ship sails across the waves of the ocean, but when it is gone, it leaves no trace. You cannot tell it was ever there. 11 A bird flies through the air, but leaves no sign that it has been there. It speeds along, riding through the thin air by the force of its wings, leaving behind no trace of its passing. 12 An arrow splits the air when it is shot at a target, but at once the air closes up behind it, and no one can tell where it passed. 13 It is the same with us—we were born, and then we ceased to be. We left no sign of virtue behind us; we were destroyed by our wickedness.
14 What hope do wicked people have? Only the hope of straw blown about in the wind, the hope of ocean foam[a] that disappears in the storm, the hope of smoke in the breeze. Their hope lasts no longer than our memory of a guest who stays one day and leaves the next.
15 But the righteous live on forever. The Lord will reward them; the Most High will protect them. 16 He will give them royal splendor and a magnificent crown. He will shield them with his powerful arm. 17 (A)He will go out into battle determined to defeat his enemies, and use the creation itself as a weapon. 18 Righteousness will be his armor, genuine justice will be his helmet, 19 holiness will be his invincible shield. 20 He will sharpen his stern anger into a sword, and the forces of nature will join him in battle against those who are foolish enough to oppose him. 21 Bolts of lightning will strike right on target, as if the Lord had made a bow out of the clouds and was shooting arrows. 22 Hailstones will beat down on his enemies with terrible force. The oceans and rivers will come rushing over them in a devastating flood. 23 Great windstorms will blow them away like straw. Lawlessness will be the ruin of the whole world. Evil actions will cause governments to fall.
Footnotes
- Wisdom 5:14 ocean foam; some manuscripts have frost.
Wisdom 5
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
5 Then shall the just stand with great constancy against those that have afflicted them, and taken away their labours.
2 These seeing it, shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the suddenness of their unexpected salvation.
3 Saying within themselves, repenting, and groaning for anguish of spirit: These are they, whom we had some time in derision, and for a parable of reproach.
4 We fools esteemed their life madness, and their end without honour.
5 Behold how they are numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the saints.
6 Therefore we have erred from the way of truth, and the light of justice hath not shined unto us, and the sun of understanding hath not risen upon us.
7 We wearied ourselves in the way of iniquity and destruction, and have walked through hard ways, but the way of the Lord we have not known.
8 What hath pride profited us? or what advantage hath the boasting of riches brought us?
9 All those things are passed away like a shadow, and like a post that runneth on,
10 And as a ship that passeth through the waves: whereof when it is gone by, the trace cannot be found, nor the path of its keel in the waters:
11 Or as when a bird flieth through the air, of the passage of which no mark can be found, but only the sound of the wings beating the light air, and parting it by the force of her flight; she moved her wings, and hath flown through, and there is no mark found afterwards of her way:
12 Or as when an arrow is shot at a mark, the divided air presently cometh together again, so that the passage thereof is not known:
13 So we also being born, forthwith ceased to be: and have been able to shew no mark of virtue: but are consumed in our wickedness.
14 Such things as these the sinners said in hell:
15 For the hope of the wicked is as dust, which is blown away with the wind, and as a thin froth which is dispersed by the storm: and a smoke that is scattered abroad by the wind: and as the remembrance of a guest of one day that passeth by.
16 But the just shall live for evermore: and their reward is with the Lord, and the care of them with the most High.
17 Therefore shall they receive a kingdom of glory, and a crown of beauty at the hand of the Lord: for with his right hand he will cover them, and with his holy arm he will defend them.
18 And his zeal will take armour, and he will arm the creature for the revenge of his enemies.
19 He will put on justice as a breastplate, and will take true judgment instead of a helmet.
20 He will take equity for an invincible shield:
21 And he will sharpen his severe wrath for a spear, and the whole world shall fight with him against the unwise.
22 Then shafts of lightning shall go directly from the clouds, as from a bow well bent, they shall be shot out, and shall fly to the mark.
23 And thick hail shall be cast upon them from the stone casting wrath: the water of the sea shall rage against them, and the rivers shall run together in a terrible manner.
24 A mighty wind shall stand up against them, and as a whirlwind shall divide them: and their iniquity shall bring all the earth to a desert, and wickedness shall overthrow the thrones of the mighty.
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