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Wisdom 12:18-20
New Catholic Bible
Wisdom 12:18-20
New Catholic Bible
18 But even though your strength is unsurpassed, you show mercy in your judgment,
and you govern us with great leniency,
for you possess the power to act whenever you so choose.
The Righteous Must Be Kind to Others[a]
19 By acting in this way you have taught your people
that the righteous man must be kind to others,
and you have gifted your children with blessed hope
because you grant them repentance for their sins.[b]
20 For if you have shown such great solicitude and indulgence
in punishing the enemies of your children who deserved to die
and have granted them time and opportunity to repudiate their wickedness,
Footnotes
- Wisdom 12:19 God’s moderation in the midst of the harsh actions of peoples also constitutes a discovery of the values of humankind. May his people henceforth show respect and consideration for every person, across frontiers of race and religion. This is a new affirmation, doubtless fostered by frequent contacts with foreign worlds and their ideas. In the next century, Christ will affirm with unforgettable clarity the primacy of love for every human being in all circumstances (see Mt 5:43-48; 1 Jn 4:20-21), and on reading verse 22, one is already reminded of that other word of Christ: “Do not judge, so that you in turn may not be judged. For you will be judged in the same way that you judge others” (Mt 7:1-2; see also Lk 6:37-42).
- Wisdom 12:19 Sacred history, which reveals the way God behaves, is the source of the moral life. If God and his Wisdom have manifested love in history (see Wis 1:6), the righteous must in their turn be the friends of human beings. In the New Testament, Jesus will give the conduct of the Father toward human beings as the criterion for the whole of moral life; see, e.g., Mt 20:15: “Are you envious because I am generous?” See also Tit 3:4-5.
