Wisdom 5:15-16:3

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

¹⁵ But the righteous live forever,
and their reward is with the Lord;
the Most High takes care of them.
¹⁶ Therefore they will receive a glorious crown
and a beautiful diadem from the hand of the Lord,
because with his right hand he will cover them,
and with his arm he will shield them.
¹⁷ The Lord^[a] will take his zeal as his whole armor,
and will arm all creation to repel^[b] his enemies;
¹⁸ he will put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and wear impartial justice as a helmet;
¹⁹ he will take holiness as an invincible shield,
²⁰ and sharpen stern wrath for a sword,
and creation will join with him to fight against his frenzied foes.
²¹ Shafts of lightning will fly with true aim,
and will leap from the clouds to the target, as from a well-drawn bow,
²² and hailstones full of wrath will be hurled as from a catapult;
the water of the sea will rage against them,
and rivers will relentlessly overwhelm them;
²³ a mighty wind will rise against them,
and like a tempest it will winnow them away.
Lawlessness will lay waste the whole earth,
and evildoing will overturn the thrones of rulers.

6 Listen therefore, O kings, and understand;
learn, O judges of the ends of the earth.
² Give ear, you that rule over multitudes,
and boast of many nations.
³ For your dominion was given you from the Lord,
and your sovereignty from the Most High;
he will search out your works and inquire into your plans.
⁴ Because as servants of his kingdom you did not rule rightly,
or keep the law,
or walk according to the purpose of God,
⁵ he will come upon you terribly and swiftly,
because severe judgment falls on those in high places.
⁶ For the lowliest may be pardoned in mercy,
but the mighty will be mightily tested.
⁷ For the Lord of all will not stand in awe of anyone,
or show deference to greatness;
because he himself made both small and great,
and he takes thought for all alike.
⁸ But a strict inquiry is in store for the mighty.
⁹ To you then, O monarchs, my words are directed,
so that you may learn wisdom and not transgress.
¹⁰ For they will be made holy who observe holy things in holiness,
and those who have been taught them will find a defense.
¹¹ Therefore set your desire on my words;
long for them, and you will be instructed.

¹² Wisdom is radiant and unfading,
and she is easily discerned by those who love her,
and is found by those who seek her.
¹³ She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.
¹⁴ One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty,
for she will be found sitting at the gate.
¹⁵ To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding,
and one who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care,
¹⁶ because she goes about seeking those worthy of her,
and she graciously appears to them in their paths,
and meets them in every thought.

7 I also am mortal, like everyone else,
a descendant of the first-formed child of earth;
and in the womb of a mother I was molded into flesh,
² within the period of ten months, compacted with blood,
from the seed of a man and the pleasure of marriage.
³ And when I was born, I began to breathe the common air,
and fell upon the kindred earth;
my first sound was a cry, as is true of all.
⁴ I was nursed with care in swaddling cloths.
⁵ For no king has had a different beginning of existence;
⁶ there is for all one entrance into life, and one way out.

⁷ Therefore I prayed, and understanding was given me;
I called on God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.
⁸ I preferred her to scepters and thrones,
and I accounted wealth as nothing in comparison with her.
⁹ Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem,
because all gold is but a little sand in her sight,
and silver will be accounted as clay before her.
¹⁰ I loved her more than health and beauty,
and I chose to have her rather than light,
because her radiance never ceases.
¹¹ All good things came to me along with her,
and in her hands uncounted wealth.
¹² I rejoiced in them all, because wisdom leads them;
but I did not know that she was their mother.
¹³ I learned without guile and I impart without grudging;
I do not hide her wealth,
¹⁴ for it is an unfailing treasure for mortals;
those who get it obtain friendship with God,
commended for the gifts that come from instruction.

¹⁵ May God grant me to speak with judgment,
and to have thoughts worthy of what I have received;
for he is the guide even of wisdom
and the corrector of the wise.
¹⁶ For both we and our words are in his hand,
as are all understanding and skill in crafts.
¹⁷ For it is he who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists,
to know the structure of the world and the activity of the elements;
¹⁸ the beginning and end and middle of times,
the alternations of the solstices and the changes of the seasons,
¹⁹ the cycles of the year and the constellations of the stars,
²⁰ the natures of animals and the tempers of wild animals,
the powers of spirits^[e] and the thoughts of human beings,
the varieties of plants and the virtues of roots;
²¹ I learned both what is secret and what is manifest,
²² for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me.

There is in her a spirit that is intelligent, holy,
unique, manifold, subtle,
mobile, clear, unpolluted,
distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen,
irresistible, ²³ beneficent, humane,
steadfast, sure, free from anxiety,
all-powerful, overseeing all,
and penetrating through all spirits
that are intelligent, pure, and altogether subtle.
²⁴ For wisdom is more mobile than any motion;
because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things.
²⁵ For she is a breath of the power of God,
and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty;
therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her.
²⁶ For she is a reflection of eternal light,
a spotless mirror of the working of God,
and an image of his goodness.
²⁷ Although she is but one, she can do all things,
and while remaining in herself, she renews all things;
in every generation she passes into holy souls
and makes them friends of God, and prophets;
²⁸ for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom.
²⁹ She is more beautiful than the sun,
and excels every constellation of the stars.
Compared with the light she is found to be superior,
³⁰ for it is succeeded by the night,
but against wisdom evil does not prevail.
8 She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other,
and she orders all things well.

² I loved her and sought her from my youth;
I desired to take her for my bride,
and became enamored of her beauty.
³ She glorifies her noble birth by living with God,
and the Lord of all loves her.
⁴ For she is an initiate in the knowledge of God,
and an associate in his works.
⁵ If riches are a desirable possession in life,
what is richer than wisdom, the active cause of all things?
⁶ And if understanding is effective,
who more than she is fashioner of what exists?
⁷ And if anyone loves righteousness,
her labors are virtues;
for she teaches self-control and prudence,
justice and courage;
nothing in life is more profitable for mortals than these.
⁸ And if anyone longs for wide experience,
she knows the things of old, and infers the things to come;
she understands turns of speech and the solutions of riddles;
she has foreknowledge of signs and wonders
and of the outcome of seasons and times.

⁹ Therefore I determined to take her to live with me,
knowing that she would give me good counsel
and encouragement in cares and grief.
¹⁰ Because of her I shall have glory among the multitudes
and honor in the presence of the elders, though I am young.
¹¹ I shall be found keen in judgment,
and in the sight of rulers I shall be admired.
¹² When I am silent they will wait for me,
and when I speak they will give heed;
if I speak at greater length,
they will put their hands on their mouths.
¹³ Because of her I shall have immortality,
and leave an everlasting remembrance to those who come after me.
¹⁴ I shall govern peoples,
and nations will be subject to me;
¹⁵ dread monarchs will be afraid of me when they hear of me;
among the people I shall show myself capable, and courageous in war.
¹⁶ When I enter my house, I shall find rest with her;
for companionship with her has no bitterness,
and life with her has no pain, but gladness and joy.
¹⁷ When I considered these things inwardly,
and pondered in my heart
that in kinship with wisdom there is immortality,
¹⁸ and in friendship with her, pure delight,
and in the labors of her hands, unfailing wealth,
and in the experience of her company, understanding,
and renown in sharing her words,
I went about seeking how to get her for myself.
¹⁹ As a child I was naturally gifted,
and a good soul fell to my lot;
²⁰ or rather, being good, I entered an undefiled body.
²¹ But I perceived that I would not possess wisdom unless God gave her to me—
and it was a mark of insight to know whose gift she was—
so I appealed to the Lord and implored him,
and with my whole heart I said:

9 “O God of my ancestors and Lord of mercy,
who have made all things by your word,
² and by your wisdom have formed humankind
to have dominion over the creatures you have made,
³ and rule the world in holiness and righteousness,
and pronounce judgment in uprightness of soul,
⁴ give me the wisdom that sits by your throne,
and do not reject me from among your servants.
⁵ For I am your servant^[f] the son of your serving girl,
a man who is weak and short-lived,
with little understanding of judgment and laws;
⁶ for even one who is perfect among human beings
will be regarded as nothing without the wisdom that comes from you.
⁷ You have chosen me to be king of your people
and to be judge over your sons and daughters.
⁸ You have given command to build a temple on your holy mountain,
and an altar in the city of your habitation,
a copy of the holy tent that you prepared from the beginning.
⁹ With you is wisdom, she who knows your works
and was present when you made the world;
she understands what is pleasing in your sight
and what is right according to your commandments.
¹⁰ Send her forth from the holy heavens,
and from the throne of your glory send her,
that she may labor at my side,
and that I may learn what is pleasing to you.
¹¹ For she knows and understands all things,
and she will guide me wisely in my actions
and guard me with her glory.
¹² Then my works will be acceptable,
and I shall judge your people justly,
and shall be worthy of the throne^[g] of my father.
¹³ For who can learn the counsel of God?
Or who can discern what the Lord wills?
¹⁴ For the reasoning of mortals is worthless,
and our designs are likely to fail;
¹⁵ for a perishable body weighs down the soul,
and this earthy tent burdens the thoughtful^[h] mind.
¹⁶ We can hardly guess at what is on earth,
and what is at hand we find with labor;
but who has traced out what is in the heavens?
¹⁷ Who has learned your counsel,
unless you have given wisdom
and sent your holy spirit from on high?
¹⁸ And thus the paths of those on earth were set right,
and people were taught what pleases you,
and were saved by wisdom.”

10 Wisdom^[i] protected the first-formed father of the world, when he alone had been created;
she delivered him from his transgression,
² and gave him strength to rule all things.
³ But when an unrighteous man departed from her in his anger,
he perished because in rage he killed his brother.
⁴ When the earth was flooded because of him, wisdom again saved it,
steering the righteous man by a paltry piece of wood.

¹⁵ A holy people and blameless race
wisdom delivered from a nation of oppressors.
¹⁶ She entered the soul of a servant of the Lord,
and withstood dread kings with wonders and signs.
¹⁷ She gave to holy people the reward of their labors;
she guided them along a marvelous way,
and became a shelter to them by day,
and a starry flame through the night.
¹⁸ She brought them over the Red Sea,
and led them through deep waters;
¹⁹ but she drowned their enemies,
and cast them up from the depth of the sea.
²⁰ Therefore the righteous plundered the ungodly;
they sang hymns, O Lord, to your holy name,
and praised with one accord your defending hand;
²¹ for wisdom opened the mouths of those who were mute,
and made the tongues of infants speak clearly.

11 Wisdom^[n] prospered their works by the hand of a holy prophet.
² They journeyed through an uninhabited wilderness,
and pitched their tents in untrodden places.
³ They withstood their enemies and fought off their foes.
⁴ When they were thirsty, they called upon you,
and water was given them out of flinty rock,
and from hard stone a remedy for their thirst.
⁵ For through the very things by which their enemies were punished,
they themselves received benefit in their need.
⁶ Instead of the fountain of an ever-flowing river,
stirred up and defiled with blood
⁷ in rebuke for the decree to kill the infants,
you gave them abundant water unexpectedly,
⁸ showing by their thirst at that time
how you punished their enemies.
⁹ For when they were tried, though they were being disciplined in mercy,
they learned how the ungodly were tormented when judged in wrath.
¹⁰ For you tested them as a parent^[o] does in warning,
but you examined the ungodly^[p] as a stern king does in condemnation.
¹¹ Whether absent or present, they were equally distressed,
¹² for a twofold grief possessed them,
and a groaning at the memory of what had occurred.
¹³ For when they heard that through their own punishments
the righteous^[q] had received benefit, they perceived it was the Lord’s doing.
¹⁴ For though they had mockingly rejected him who long before had been cast out and exposed,
at the end of the events they marveled at him,
when they felt thirst in a different way from the righteous.

¹⁵ In return for their foolish and wicked thoughts,
which led them astray to worship irrational serpents and worthless animals,
you sent upon them a multitude of irrational creatures to punish them,
¹⁶ so that they might learn that one is punished by the very things by which one sins.
¹⁷ For your all-powerful hand,
which created the world out of formless matter,
did not lack the means to send upon them a multitude of bears, or bold lions,
¹⁸ or newly-created unknown beasts full of rage,
or such as breathe out fiery breath,
or belch forth a thick pall of smoke,
or flash terrible sparks from their eyes;
¹⁹ not only could the harm they did destroy people,^[r]
but the mere sight of them could kill by fright.
²⁰ Even apart from these, people^[s] could fall at a single breath
when pursued by justice
and scattered by the breath of your power.
But you have arranged all things by measure and number and weight.

²¹ For it is always in your power to show great strength,
and who can withstand the might of your arm?
²² Because the whole world before you is like a speck that tips the scales,
and like a drop of morning dew that falls on the ground.
²³ But you are merciful to all, for you can do all things,
and you overlook people’s sins, so that they may repent.
²⁴ For you love all things that exist,
and detest none of the things that you have made,
for you would not have made anything if you had hated it.
²⁵ How would anything have endured if you had not willed it?
Or how would anything not called forth by you have been preserved?
²⁶ You spare all things, for they are yours, O Lord, you who love the living.
12 For your immortal spirit is in all things.
² Therefore you correct little by little those who trespass,
and you remind and warn them of the things through which they sin,
so that they may be freed from wickedness and put their trust in you, O Lord.

³ Those who lived long ago in your holy land
⁴ you hated for their detestable practices,
their works of sorcery and unholy rites,
⁵ their merciless slaughter^[t] of children,
and their sacrificial feasting on human flesh and blood.
These initiates from the midst of a heathen cult,^[u]
6 these parents who murder helpless lives,
you willed to destroy by the hands of our ancestors,
⁷ so that the land most precious of all to you
might receive a worthy colony of the servants^[v] of God.
⁸ But even these you spared, since they were but mortals,
and sent wasps^[w] as forerunners of your army
to destroy them little by little,
⁹ though you were not unable to give the ungodly into the hands of the righteous in battle,
or to destroy them at one blow by dread wild animals or your stern word.
¹⁰ But judging them little by little you gave them an opportunity to repent,
though you were not unaware that their origin^[x] was evil
and their wickedness inborn,
and that their way of thinking would never change.
¹¹ For they were an accursed race from the beginning,
and it was not through fear of anyone that you left them unpunished for their sins.

¹² For who will say, “What have you done?”
or will resist your judgment?
Who will accuse you for the destruction of nations that you made?
Or who will come before you to plead as an advocate for the unrighteous?
¹³ For neither is there any god besides you, whose care is for all people,^[y]
to whom you should prove that you have not judged unjustly;
¹⁴ nor can any king or monarch confront you about those whom you have punished.
¹⁵ You are righteous and you rule all things righteously,
deeming it alien to your power
to condemn anyone who does not deserve to be punished.
¹⁶ For your strength is the source of righteousness,
and your sovereignty over all causes you to spare all.
¹⁷ For you show your strength when people doubt the completeness of your power,
and you rebuke any insolence among those who know it.^[z]
18 Although you are sovereign in strength, you judge with mildness,
and with great forbearance you govern us;
for you have power to act whenever you choose.

¹⁹ Through such works you have taught your people
that the righteous must be kind,
and you have filled your children with good hope,
because you give repentance for sins.
²⁰ For if you punished with such great care and indulgence^[aa]
the enemies of your servants^[ab] and those deserving of death,
granting them time and opportunity to give up their wickedness,
²¹ with what strictness you have judged your children,
to whose ancestors you gave oaths and covenants full of good promises!
²² So while chastening us you scourge our enemies ten thousand times more,
so that, when we judge, we may meditate upon your goodness,
and when we are judged, we may expect mercy.

²³ Therefore those who lived unrighteously, in a life of folly,
you tormented through their own abominations.
²⁴ For they went far astray on the paths of error,
accepting as gods those animals that even their enemies^[ac] despised;
they were deceived like foolish infants.
²⁵ Therefore, as though to children who cannot reason,
you sent your judgment to mock them.
²⁶ But those who have not heeded the warning of mild rebukes
will experience the deserved judgment of God.
²⁷ For when in their suffering they became incensed
at those creatures that they had thought to be gods, being punished by means of them,
they saw and recognized as the true God the one whom they had before refused to know.
Therefore the utmost condemnation came upon them.

13 For all people who were ignorant of God were foolish by nature;
and they were unable from the good things that are seen to know the one who exists,
nor did they recognize the artisan while paying heed to his works;
² but they supposed that either fire or wind or swift air,
or the circle of the stars, or turbulent water,
or the luminaries of heaven were the gods that rule the world.
³ If through delight in the beauty of these things people assumed them to be gods,
let them know how much better than these is their Lord,
for the author of beauty created them.
⁴ And if people^[ad] were amazed at their power and working,
let them perceive from them
how much more powerful is the one who formed them.
⁵ For from the greatness and beauty of created things
comes a corresponding perception of their Creator.
⁶ Yet these people are little to be blamed,
for perhaps they go astray
while seeking God and desiring to find him.
⁷ For while they live among his works, they keep searching,
and they trust in what they see, because the things that are seen are beautiful.
⁸ Yet again, not even they are to be excused;
⁹ for if they had the power to know so much
that they could investigate the world,
how did they fail to find sooner the Lord of these things?

¹⁰ But miserable, with their hopes set on dead things, are those
who give the name “gods” to the works of human hands,
gold and silver fashioned with skill,
and likenesses of animals,
or a useless stone, the work of an ancient hand.
¹¹ A skilled woodcutter may saw down a tree easy to handle
and skillfully strip off all its bark,
and then with pleasing workmanship
make a useful vessel that serves life’s needs,
¹² and burn the cast-off pieces of his work
to prepare his food, and eat his fill.
¹³ But a cast-off piece from among them, useful for nothing,
a stick crooked and full of knots,
he takes and carves with care in his leisure,
and shapes it with skill gained in idleness;^[ae]
he forms it in the likeness of a human being,
¹⁴ or makes it like some worthless animal,
giving it a coat of red paint and coloring its surface red
and covering every blemish in it with paint;
¹⁵ then he makes a suitable niche for it,
and sets it in the wall, and fastens it there with iron.
¹⁶ He takes thought for it, so that it may not fall,
because he knows that it cannot help itself,
for it is only an image and has need of help.
¹⁷ When he prays about possessions and his marriage and children,
he is not ashamed to address a lifeless thing.
¹⁸ For health he appeals to a thing that is weak;
for life he prays to a thing that is dead;
for aid he entreats a thing that is utterly inexperienced;
for a prosperous journey, a thing that cannot take a step;
¹⁹ for money-making and work and success with his hands
he asks strength of a thing whose hands have no strength.

14 Again, one preparing to sail and about to voyage over raging waves
calls upon a piece of wood more fragile than the ship that carries him.
² For it was desire for gain that planned that vessel,
and wisdom was the artisan who built it;
³ but it is your providence, O Father, that steers its course,
because you have given it a path in the sea,
and a safe way through the waves,
⁴ showing that you can save from every danger,
so that even a person who lacks skill may put to sea.
⁵ It is your will that works of your wisdom should not be without effect;
therefore people trust their lives even to the smallest piece of wood,
and passing through the billows on a raft they come safely to land.
⁶ For even in the beginning, when arrogant giants were perishing,
the hope of the world took refuge on a raft,
and guided by your hand left to the world the seed of a new generation.
⁷ For blessed is the wood by which righteousness comes.

¹² For the idea of making idols was the beginning of fornication,
and the invention of them was the corruption of life;
¹³ for they did not exist from the beginning,
nor will they last forever.
¹⁴ For through human vanity they entered the world,
and therefore their speedy end has been planned.

15 But you, our God, are kind and true,
patient, and ruling all things^[ai] in mercy.
² For even if we sin we are yours, knowing your power;
but we will not sin, because we know that you acknowledge us as yours.
³ For to know you is complete righteousness,
and to know your power is the root of immortality.
⁴ For neither has the evil intent of human art misled us,
nor the fruitless toil of painters,
a figure stained with varied colors,
⁵ whose appearance arouses yearning in fools,
so that they desire^[aj] the lifeless form of a dead image.
⁶ Lovers of evil things and fit for such objects of hope^[ak]
are those who either make or desire or worship them.

⁷ A potter kneads the soft earth
and laboriously molds each vessel for our service,
fashioning out of the same clay
both the vessels that serve clean uses
and those for contrary uses, making all alike;
but which shall be the use of each of them
the worker in clay decides.
⁸ With misspent toil, these workers form a futile god from the same clay—
these mortals who were made of earth a short time before
and after a little while go to the earth from which all mortals are taken,
when the time comes to return the souls that were borrowed.
⁹ But the workers are not concerned that mortals are destined to die
or that their life is brief,
but they compete with workers in gold and silver,
and imitate workers in copper;
and they count it a glorious thing to mold counterfeit gods.
¹⁰ Their heart is ashes, their hope is cheaper than dirt,
and their lives are of less worth than clay,
¹¹ because they failed to know the one who formed them
and inspired them with active souls
and breathed a living spirit into them.
¹² But they considered our existence an idle game,
and life a festival held for profit,
for they say one must get money however one can, even by base means.
¹³ For these persons, more than all others, know that they sin
when they make from earthy matter fragile vessels and carved images.

¹⁸ Moreover, they worship even the most hateful animals,
which are worse than all others when judged by their lack of intelligence;
¹⁹ and even as animals they are not so beautiful in appearance that one would desire them,
but they have escaped both the praise of God and his blessing.
16 Therefore those people^[an] were deservedly punished through such creatures,
and were tormented by a multitude of animals.
² Instead of this punishment you showed kindness to your people,
and you prepared quails to eat,
a delicacy to satisfy the desire of appetite;
³ in order that those people, when they desired food,
might lose the least remnant of appetite^[ao]
because of the odious creatures sent to them,
while your people,^[ap] after suffering want a short time,
might partake of delicacies.