Wisdom 4:20-5:8

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

²⁰ They will come with dread when their sins are reckoned up,
and their lawless deeds will convict them to their face.
5 Then the righteous man will stand with great confidence
in the presence of those who have afflicted him,
and those who make light of his labors.
² When they see him, they will be shaken with dreadful fear,
and they will be amazed at his unexpected salvation.
³ They will speak to one another in repentance,
and in anguish of spirit they will groan, and say,
⁴ “This is the man whom we once held in derision
and made a byword of reproach—we fools!
We thought that his life was madness
and that his end was without honor.
⁵ Why has he been numbered among the sons of God?
And why is his lot among the saints?
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.
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.
⁸ What has our arrogance profited us?
And what good has our boasted wealth brought us?