Sapientia 2
Biblia Sacra Vulgata
2 Dixerunt enim cogitantes apud se non recte: Exiguum et cum taedio est tempus vitae nostrae, et non est refrigerium in fine hominis, et non est qui agnitus sit reversus ab inferis.
2 Quia ex nihilo nati sumus, et post hoc erimus tamquam non fuerimus. Quoniam fumus flatus est in naribus nostris, et sermo scintilla ad commovendum cor nostrum:
3 qua extincta, cinis erit corpus nostrum, et spiritus diffundetur tamquam mollis aer; et transibit vita nostra tamquam vestigium nubis, et sicut nebula dissolvetur quae fugata est a radiis solis, et a calore illius aggravata.
4 Et nomen nostrum oblivionem accipiet per tempus, et nemo memoriam habebit operum nostrorum.
5 Umbrae enim transitus est tempus nostrum, et non est reversio finis nostri: quoniam consignata est, et nemo revertitur.
6 Venite ergo, et fruamur bonis quae sunt, et utamur creatura tamquam in juventute celeriter.
7 Vino pretioso et unguentis nos impleamus, et non praetereat nos flos temporis.
8 Coronemus nos rosis antequam marcescant; nullum pratum sit quod non pertranseat luxuria nostra:
9 nemo nostrum exsors sit luxuriae nostrae. Ubique relinquamus signa laetitiae, quoniam haec est pars nostra, et haec est sors.
10 Opprimamus pauperem justum, et non parcamus viduae, nec veterani revereamur canos multi temporis:
11 sit autem fortitudo nostra lex justitiae; quod enim infirmum est, inutile invenitur.
12 Circumveniamus ergo justum, quoniam inutilis est nobis, et contrarius est operibus nostris, et improperat nobis peccata legis, et diffamat in nos peccata disciplinae nostrae.
13 Promittit se scientiam Dei habere, et filium Dei se nominat.
14 Factus est nobis in traductionem cogitationum nostrarum.
15 Gravis est nobis etiam ad videndum, quoniam dissimilis est aliis vita illius, et immutatae sunt viae ejus.
16 Tamquam nugaces aestimati sumus ab illo, et abstinet se a viis nostris tamquam ab immunditiis, et praefert novissima justorum, et gloriatur patrem se habere Deum.
17 Videamus ergo si sermones illius veri sint, et tentemus quae ventura sunt illi, et sciemus quae erunt novissima illius.
18 Si enim est verus filius Dei, suscipiet illum, et liberabit eum de manibus contrariorum.
19 Contumelia et tormento interrogemus eum, ut sciamus reverentiam ejus, et probemus patientiam illius.
20 Morte turpissima condemnemus eum; erit enim ei respectus ex sermonibus illius.
21 Haec cogitaverunt, et erraverunt: excaecavit enim illos malitia eorum.
22 Et nescierunt sacramenta Dei: neque mercedem speraverunt justitiae, nec judicaverunt honorem animarum sanctarum.
23 Quoniam Deus creavit hominem inexterminabilem, et ad imaginem similitudinis suae fecit illum.
24 Invidia autem diaboli mors introivit in orbem terrarum:
25 imitantur autem illum qui sunt ex parte illius.
Wisdom 2
Revised Standard Version
2 For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves,
“Short and sorrowful is our life,
and there is no remedy when a man comes to his end,
and no one has been known to return from Hades.
2 Because we were born by mere chance,
and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been;
because the breath in our nostrils is smoke,
and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our hearts.
3 When it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes,
and the spirit will dissolve like empty air.
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.
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.
6 “Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that exist,
and make use of the creation to the full as in youth.
7 Let us take our fill of costly wine and perfumes,
and let no flower of spring pass by us.
8 Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.
9 Let none of us fail to share in our revelry,
everywhere let us leave signs of enjoyment,
because this is our portion, and this our lot.
10 Let us oppress the righteous poor man;
let us not spare the widow
nor 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.
13 He professes to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself a child[a] of the Lord.
14 He became to us a reproof of our thoughts;
15 the very sight of him is a burden to us,
because his manner of life is unlike that of others,
and his ways are strange.
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.
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 son, he will help him,
and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.
19 Let us test him with insult and torture,
that we may find out how gentle he is,
and make trial of his forbearance.
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,
22 and they did not know the secret purposes of God,
nor hope for the wages of holiness,
nor discern the prize for blameless souls;
23 for God created man for incorruption,
and made him in the image of his own eternity,[b]
24 but through the devil’s envy death entered the world,
and those who belong to his party experience it.
Footnotes
- Wisdom 2:13 Or servant
- Wisdom 2:23 Other ancient authorities read nature
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.