Wisdom of Solomon 4:16-5:8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Triumph of the Righteous
16 The righteous who have died will condemn the ungodly who are living,
and youth that is quickly perfected[a] will condemn the prolonged old age of the unrighteous.(A)
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.(B)
18 The unrighteous[b] 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.(C)
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.(D)
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.(E)
2 When the unrighteous[c] see them, they will be shaken with dreadful fear,
and they will be amazed at the unexpected salvation of the righteous.(F)
3 They will speak to one another in repentance,
and in anguish of spirit they will groan,(G)
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.(H)
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.(I)
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.(J)
8 What has our arrogance profited us?
And what good has our boasted wealth brought us?
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.