Wisdom of Solomon 2-5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
2 For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves,
“Short and sorrowful is our life,
and there is no remedy when a life comes to its end,
and no one has been known to return from Hades.
2 For we were born by mere chance,
and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been,
for the breath in our nostrils is smoke,
and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our hearts;(A)
3 when it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes,
and the spirit will dissolve like empty air.(B)
4 Our name will be forgotten in time,
and no one will remember our works;
our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud
and be scattered like mist
that is chased by the rays of the sun
and overcome by its heat.(C)
5 For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow,
and there is no return from our death,
because it is sealed up and no one turns back.(D)
6 “Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that exist
and make use of the creation to the full as in youth.(E)
7 Let us take our fill of costly wine and perfumes,
and let no flower of spring pass us by.
8 Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.
9 Let no meadow be free from our revelry;
everywhere let us leave signs of enjoyment,
because this is our portion, and this our lot.(F)
10 Let us oppress the righteous poor man;
let us not spare the widow
or regard the gray hairs of the aged.
11 But let our might be our law of right,
for what is weak proves itself to be useless.
12 “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man,
because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions;
he reproaches us for sins against the law
and accuses us of sins against our training.(G)
13 He professes to have knowledge of God
and calls himself a child of the Lord.
14 He became to us a reproof of our thoughts;
the very sight of him is a burden to us,
15 because his manner of life is unlike that of others,
and his ways are strange.(H)
16 We are considered by him as something base,
and he avoids our ways as unclean;
he calls the last end of the righteous happy
and boasts that God is his father.(I)
17 Let us see if his words are true,
and let us test what will happen at the end of his life,
18 for if the righteous man is God’s child, he will help him
and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.(J)
19 Let us test him with insult and torture,
so that we may find out how reasonable he is
and make trial of his forbearance.(K)
20 Let us condemn him to a shameful death,
for, according to what he says, he will be protected.”
Error of the Wicked
21 Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray,
for their wickedness blinded them,(L)
22 and they did not know the secret purposes of God,
nor hoped for the wages of holiness,
nor discerned the prize for blameless souls,(M)
23 for God created us for incorruption
and made us in the image of his own eternity,[a](N)
24 but through an adversary’s[b] envy death entered the world,
and those who belong to his company experience it.(O)
The Destiny of the Righteous
3 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,
and their departure was thought to be a disaster(P)
3 and their going from us to be their destruction,
but they are at peace.
4 For though in the sight of others they were punished,
their hope is full of immortality.(Q)
5 Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;(R)
6 like gold in the furnace he tried them,
and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.(S)
7 In the time of their visitation they will shine forth
and will run like sparks through the stubble.(T)
8 They will govern nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord will reign over them forever.(U)
9 Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will abide with him in love,
because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,
and he watches over his elect.[c](V)
The Destiny of the Ungodly
10 But the ungodly will be punished as their reasoning deserves,
those who disregarded the righteous[d]
and rebelled against the Lord,(W)
11 for those who despise wisdom and instruction are miserable.
Their hope is vain, their labors are unprofitable,
and their works are useless.
12 Their wives are foolish and their children evil;(X)
their offspring are accursed.
On Childlessness
13 For blessed is the barren woman who is undefiled,
who has not entered into a sinful union;
she will have fruit when God examines souls.(Y)
14 Blessed also is the eunuch whose hands have done no lawless deed
and who has not devised wicked things against the Lord,
for special favor will be shown him for his faithfulness
and a place of great delight in the temple of the Lord.(Z)
15 For the fruit of good labors is renowned,
and the root of understanding does not fail.(AA)
16 But children of adulterers will not come to maturity,
and the offspring of an unlawful union will perish.(AB)
17 Even if they live long they will be held of no account,
and finally their old age will be without honor.
18 If they die young, they will have no hope
and no consolation on the day of judgment.
19 For the end of an unrighteous generation is grievous.
4 Better than this is childlessness with virtue,
for in the memory of virtue[e] is immortality,
because it is known both by God and by mortals.(AC)
2 When it is present, people imitate[f] it,
and they long for it when it has gone;
throughout all time it marches, crowned in triumph,
victor in the contest for prizes that are undefiled.(AD)
3 But the prolific brood of the ungodly will be of no use,
and none of their illegitimate seedlings will strike a deep root
or take a firm hold.(AE)
4 For even if they put forth boughs for a while,
standing insecurely they will be shaken by the wind,
and by the violence of the winds they will be uprooted.(AF)
5 The branches will be broken off before they come to maturity,
and their fruit will be useless,
not ripe enough to eat and good for nothing.(AG)
6 For children born of unlawful unions
are witnesses of evil against their parents when God examines them.[g](AH)
7 But the righteous, even if they die early, will be at rest.
8 For old age is not honored for length of time
or measured by number of years,
9 but understanding is gray hair for anyone,
and a blameless life is ripe old age.
10 There was one who pleased God and was loved by him
and while living among sinners was taken up.(AI)
11 He was caught up so that evil might not change his understanding
or guile deceive his soul.(AJ)
12 For the fascination of wickedness obscures what is good,
and roving desire perverts the innocent mind.(AK)
13 Being perfected in a short time, he fulfilled long years,(AL)
14 for his soul was pleasing to the Lord;
therefore he hastened him from the midst of wickedness.(AM)
Yet the peoples saw and did not understand
or take such a thing to heart,
15 that God’s grace and mercy are with his elect
and that he watches over his holy ones.(AN)
The Triumph of the Righteous
16 The righteous who have died will condemn the ungodly who are living,
and youth that is quickly perfected[h] will condemn the prolonged old age of the unrighteous.(AO)
17 For they will see the end of the wise
and will not understand what the Lord purposed for them
and for what he kept them safe.(AP)
18 The unrighteous[i] will see and will have contempt for them,
but the Lord will laugh them to scorn.
19 After this they will become dishonored corpses
and an outrage among the dead forever,
because he will dash them speechless to the ground
and shake them from the foundations;
they will be left utterly dry and barren,
and they will suffer anguish,
and the memory of them will perish.(AQ)
The Final Judgment
20 They will come with dread when their sins are reckoned up,
and their lawless deeds will convict them to their face.(AR)
5 Then the righteous will stand with great confidence
in the presence of those who have oppressed them
and those who make light of their labors.(AS)
2 When the unrighteous[j] see them, they will be shaken with dreadful fear,
and they will be amazed at the unexpected salvation of the righteous.(AT)
3 They will speak to one another in repentance,
and in anguish of spirit they will groan,(AU)
4 “These are persons whom we once held in derision
and made a byword of reproach—fools that we were!
We thought that their lives were madness
and that their end was without honor.(AV)
5 Why have they been numbered among the children of God?
And why is their lot among the holy ones?
6 So it was we who strayed from the way of truth,
and the light of righteousness did not shine on us,
and the sun did not rise upon us.(AW)
7 We took our fill of the paths of lawlessness and destruction,
and we journeyed through trackless deserts,
but the way of the Lord we have not known.(AX)
8 What has our arrogance profited us?
And what good has our boasted wealth brought us?
9 “All those things have vanished like a shadow
and like a rumor that passes by;(AY)
10 like a ship that sails through the billowy water,
and when it has passed no trace can be found,
no track of its keel in the waves;(AZ)
11 or as, when a bird flies through the air,
no evidence of its passage is found;
the light air, lashed by the beat of its pinions
and pierced by the force of its rushing flight,
is traversed by the movement of its wings,
and afterward no sign of its coming is found there;(BA)
12 or as, when an arrow is shot at a target,
the air, thus divided, comes together at once,
so that no one knows its pathway.(BB)
13 So we also, as soon as we were born, ceased to be,
and we had no sign of virtue to show
but were consumed in our wickedness.”
14 Because the hope of the ungodly is like thistledown[k] carried by the wind
and like a light frost[l] driven away by a storm;
it is dispersed like smoke before the wind,
and it passes like the remembrance of a guest who stays but a day.(BC)
The Reward of the Righteous
15 But the righteous live forever,
and their reward is with the Lord;
the Most High takes care of them.(BD)
16 Therefore they will receive a glorious crown
and a beautiful diadem from the hand of the Lord,
because with his right hand he will cover them,
and with his arm he will shield them.(BE)
17 The Lord[m] will take his zeal as his whole armor
and will arm all creation to repel[n] his enemies;(BF)
18 he will put on righteousness as a breastplate
and wear impartial justice as a helmet;(BG)
19 he will take holiness as an invincible shield(BH)
20 and sharpen stern wrath for a sword,
and the world will join him to fight against the senseless.(BI)
21 Shafts of lightning will fly with true aim
and will leap from the clouds to the target, as from a well-drawn bow,(BJ)
22 and hailstones full of wrath will be hurled as from a catapult;
the water of the sea will rage against them,
and rivers will relentlessly overwhelm them;(BK)
23 a mighty wind will rise against them,
and like a tempest it will winnow them away.
Lawlessness will lay waste the whole earth,
and evildoing will overturn the thrones of rulers.(BL)
Footnotes
- 2.23 Other ancient authorities read nature
- 2.24 Or a devil’s
- 3.9 Text of this line uncertain; omitted by some ancient authorities
- 3.10 Or what is right
- 4.1 Gk it
- 4.2 Other ancient authorities read honor
- 4.6 Gk at their examination
- 4.16 Or ended
- 4.18 Gk They
- 5.2 Gk they
- 5.14 Other ancient authorities read dust
- 5.14 Other ancient authorities read spider’s web
- 5.17 Gk He
- 5.17 Or punish
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.