Wisdom 12:12-21

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

¹² For who will say, “What hast thou done?”
Or will resist thy judgment?
Who will accuse thee for the destruction of nations which thou didst make?
Or who will come before thee to plead as an advocate for unrighteous men?
¹³ For neither is there any god besides thee, whose care is for all men,^[a]
to whom thou shouldst prove that thou hast not judged unjustly;
¹⁴ nor can any king or monarch confront thee about those whom thou hast punished.
¹⁵ Thou art righteous and rulest all things righteously,
deeming it alien to thy power
to condemn him who does not deserve to be punished.
¹⁶ For thy strength is the source of righteousness,
and thy sovereignty over all causes thee to spare all.
¹⁷ For thou dost show thy strength when men doubt the completeness of thy power,
and dost rebuke any insolence among those who know it.^[b]
18 Thou who art sovereign in strength dost judge with mildness,
and with great forbearance thou dost govern us;
for thou hast power to act whenever thou dost choose.

¹⁹ Through such works thou has taught thy people
that the righteous man must be kind,
and thou hast filled thy sons with good hope,
because thou givest repentance for sins.
²⁰ For if thou didst punish with such great care and indulgence^[c]
the enemies of thy servants^[d] and those deserving of death,
granting them time and opportunity to give up their wickedness,
²¹ with what strictness thou hast judged thy sons,
to whose fathers thou gavest oaths and covenants full of good promises!