Wisdom 4
Good News Translation
4 (A)It is better to have virtue, even if it means having no children. Your virtue will be recognized by other people and by God, and you will be remembered for it forever. 2 Virtue provides an example for people to follow; when it is not there, they miss it. It has always been the finest prize a person can win, and it always will be so. It is the noblest of all the good qualities a person can have.
3 No matter how many children are born of a forbidden union, none of them will ever amount to anything. They are illegitimate; they can never lay a firm foundation for themselves, never take deep root. 4 Like trees with shallow roots, they put out leaves for a while, but they sway in the wind, and storms uproot them. 5 Their branches snap off before they mature; their fruit never ripens, and it is good for nothing. 6 On Judgment Day children born of a forbidden union will testify to the sin of their parents and act as witnesses against them.
7 Righteous people, however, will find rest, even if they die young. 8 We honor old age, but not just because a person has lived a long time. 9 Wisdom and righteousness are signs of the maturity that should come with old age.
The Example of Enoch
10 (B)Once there was a man named Enoch who pleased God, and God loved him. While Enoch was still living among sinners, God took him away, 11 so that evil and falsehood could not corrupt his mind and soul. ( 12 We all know that people can be so fascinated by evil that they cannot recognize what is good even when they are looking right at it. Innocent people can be so corrupted with desire that they can think of nothing but what they want.) 13 This man Enoch achieved in a few years' time a perfection that other people could never attain in a complete lifetime. 14 The Lord was pleased with Enoch's life and quickly took him out of this wicked world. People were aware of his departure but didn't understand. They never seemed to learn the lesson 15 that God is kind and merciful to his own people; he protects those whom he has chosen.
The Fate of the Wicked
16 Even when righteous people are dead and gone, they put to shame the wicked people who live on after them. In their old age the wicked will be disgraced by young people who have already achieved perfection. 17 The wise may die young, but the wicked will never understand that this is the Lord's way of taking them off to safety. 18 They make light of a wise person's death, but the Lord will soon be laughing at them. When they die, they will not be given an honorable burial. Even the dead will hold them in scorn and disgust forever. 19 God will throw them to the ground and make them speechless. Like buildings shaken from their foundations, they will be reduced to piles of ruins. They will be in torment. People will soon forget all about them. 20 They will come in fear to the Judgment, where their sins will be counted; they will stand condemned by their own lawless actions.
Wisdom of Solomon 4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
4 Better than this is childlessness with virtue,
for in the memory of virtue[a] is immortality,
because it is known both by God and by mortals.(A)
2 When it is present, people imitate[b] 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.(B)
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.(C)
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.(D)
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.(E)
6 For children born of unlawful unions
are witnesses of evil against their parents when God examines them.[c](F)
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.(G)
11 He was caught up so that evil might not change his understanding
or guile deceive his soul.(H)
12 For the fascination of wickedness obscures what is good,
and roving desire perverts the innocent mind.(I)
13 Being perfected in a short time, he fulfilled long years,(J)
14 for his soul was pleasing to the Lord;
therefore he hastened him from the midst of wickedness.(K)
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.(L)
The Triumph of the Righteous
16 The righteous who have died will condemn the ungodly who are living,
and youth that is quickly perfected[d] will condemn the prolonged old age of the unrighteous.(M)
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.(N)
18 The unrighteous[e] 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.(O)
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.(P)
Wisdom 4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 4
1 Better is childlessness with virtue;
for immortal is the memory of virtue,
acknowledged both by God and human beings.(A)
2 When it is present people imitate it,
and they long for it when it is gone;
Forever it marches crowned in triumph,
victorious in unsullied deeds of valor.
3 But the numerous progeny of the wicked shall be of no avail;
their spurious offshoots shall not strike deep root
nor take firm hold.(B)
4 For even though their branches flourish for a time,
they are unsteady and shall be rocked by the wind
and, by the violence of the winds, uprooted;(C)
5 Their twigs shall be broken off untimely,
their fruit useless, unripe for eating,
fit for nothing.
6 For children born of lawless unions
give evidence of the wickedness of their parents, when they are examined.
C. On Early Death[a]
7 But the righteous one, though he die early, shall be at rest.(D)
8 For the age that is honorable comes not with the passing of time,(E)
nor can it be measured in terms of years.
9 Rather, understanding passes for gray hair,
and an unsullied life is the attainment of old age.
10 [b]The one who pleased God was loved,(F)
living among sinners, was transported—
11 Snatched away, lest wickedness pervert his mind
or deceit beguile his soul;(G)
12 For the witchery of paltry things obscures what is right
and the whirl of desire transforms the innocent mind.(H)
13 Having become perfect in a short while,
he reached the fullness of a long career;
14 for his soul was pleasing to the Lord,
therefore he sped him out of the midst of wickedness.(I)
But the people saw and did not understand,
nor did they take that consideration into account.[c]
16 Yes, the righteous one who has died will condemn
the sinful who live;
And youth, swiftly completed, will condemn
the many years of the unrighteous who have grown old.(J)
17 For they will see the death of the wise one
and will not understand what the Lord intended,
or why he kept him safe.
18 They will see, and hold him in contempt;
but the Lord will laugh them to scorn.(K)
19 And they shall afterward become dishonored corpses(L)
and an unceasing mockery among the dead.
For he shall strike them down speechless and prostrate(M)
and rock them to their foundations;
They shall be utterly laid waste
and shall be in grief
and their memory shall perish.
The Judgment of the Wicked
20 Fearful shall they come, at the counting up of their sins,
and their lawless deeds shall convict them to their face.
Footnotes
- 4:7–19 Early death is not a punishment for the righteous because genuine old age is the attainment of perfection and early death is a preservation from corruption. The old age and death of the wicked, however, will not be honorable.
- 4:10–11 There are allusions here to Enoch (Gn 5:21–24), who was young by patriarchal standards, and to Lot (Gn 19:10–11; 2 Pt 2:7–8). Cf. also Is 57:1–2.
- 4:14 Verse 15 is omitted because it repeats the last two lines of 3:9.
Wisdom 4
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
4 O how beautiful is the chaste generation with glory: for the memory thereof is immortal: because it is known both with God and with men.
2 When it is present, they imitate it: and they desire it when it hath withdrawn itself, and it triumpheth crowned for ever, winning the reward of undefiled conflicts.
3 But the multiplied brood of the wicked shall not thrive, and bastard slips shall not take deep root, nor any fast foundation.
4 And if they flourish in branches for a time, yet standing not fast, they shall be shaken with the wind, and through the force of winds they shall be rooted out.
5 For the branches not being perfect, shall be broken, and their fruits shall be unprofitable, and sour to eat, and fit for nothing.
6 For the children that are born of unlawful beds, are witnesses of wickedness against their parents in their trial.
7 But the just man, if he be prevented with death, shall be in rest.
8 For venerable old age is not that of long time, nor counted by the number of years: but the understanding of a man is grey hairs.
9 And a spotless life is old age.
10 He pleased God and was beloved, and living among sinners he was translated.
11 He was taken away lest wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul.
12 For the bewitching of vanity obscureth good things, and the wandering of concupiscence overturneth the innocent mind.
13 Being made perfect in a short space, he fulfilled a long time:
14 For his soul pleased God: therefore he hastened to bring him out of the midst of iniquities: but the people see this, and understand not, nor lay up such things in their hearts:
15 That the grace of God, and his mercy is with his saints, and that he hath respect to his chosen.
16 But the just that is dead, condemneth the wicked that are living, and youth soon ended, the long life of the unjust.
17 For they shall see the end of the wise man, and shall not understand what God hath designed for him, and why the Lord hath set him in safety.
18 They shall see him, and shall despise him: but the Lord shall laugh them to scorn.
19 And they shall fall after this without honour, and be a reproach among the dead for ever: for he shall burst them puffed up and speechless, and shall shake them from the foundations, and they shall be utterly laid waste: they shall be in sorrow, and their memory shall perish.
20 They shall come with fear at the thought of their sins, and their iniquities shall stand against them to convict them.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
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.
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