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THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON

Exhortation to Uprightness

1Love righteousness, you rulers of the earth,
think of the Lord in goodness
and seek him with sincerity of heart;
² because he is found by those who do not put him to the test,
and manifests himself to those who do not distrust him.
³ For perverse thoughts separate people from God,
and when his power is tested, it exposes the foolish;
⁴ because wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul,
or dwell in a body enslaved to sin.
⁵ For a holy and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit,
and will leave foolish thoughts behind,
and will be ashamed at the approach of unrighteousness.

⁶ For wisdom is a kindly spirit,
but will not free blasphemers from the guilt of their words;
because God is witness of their inmost feelings,
and a true observer of their hearts, and a hearer of their tongues.
⁷ Because the spirit of the Lord has filled the world,
and that which holds all things together knows what is said,
⁸ therefore those who utter unrighteous things will not escape notice,
and justice, when it punishes, will not pass them by.
⁹ For inquiry will be made into the counsels of the ungodly,
and a report of their words will come to the Lord,
to convict them of their lawless deeds;
¹⁰ because a jealous ear hears all things,
and the sound of grumbling does not go unheard.
¹¹ Beware then of useless grumbling,
and keep your tongue from slander;
because no secret word is without result,^*
and a lying mouth destroys the soul.

¹² Do not invite death by the error of your life,
or bring on destruction by the works of your hands;
¹³ because God did not make death,
and he does not delight in the death of the living.
¹⁴ For he created all things so that they might exist;
the generative forces^* of the world are wholesome,
and there is no destructive poison in them,
and the dominion^* of Hades is not on earth.
¹⁵ For righteousness is immortal.

Life as the Ungodly See It

¹⁶ But the ungodly by their words and deeds summoned death;^*
considering him a friend, they pined away
and made a covenant with him,
because they are fit to belong to his company.

2For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves,
‘Short and sorrowful is our life,
and there is no remedy when a life comes to its end,
and no one has been known to return from Hades.
² For we were born by mere chance,
and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been,
for the breath in our nostrils is smoke,
and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our hearts;
³ when it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes,
and the spirit will dissolve like empty air.
⁴ Our name will be forgotten in time,
and no one will remember our works;
our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud,
and be scattered like mist
that is chased by the rays of the sun
and overcome by its heat.
⁵ For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow,
and there is no return from our death,
because it is sealed up and no one turns back.

⁶ ‘Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that exist,
and make use of the creation to the full as in youth.
⁷ Let us take our fill of costly wine and perfumes,
and let no flower of spring pass us by.
⁸ Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.
⁹ Let none of us fail to share in our revelry;
everywhere let us leave signs of enjoyment,
because this is our portion, and this our lot.
¹⁰ Let us oppress the righteous poor man;
let us not spare the widow
or regard the grey hairs of the aged.
¹¹ But let our might be our law of right,
for what is weak proves itself to be useless.

¹² ‘Let us lie in wait for the righteous man,
because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions;
he reproaches us for sins against the law,
and accuses us of sins against our training.
¹³ He professes to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself a child^* of the Lord.
¹⁴ He became to us a reproof of our thoughts;
¹⁵ the very sight of him is a burden to us,
because his manner of life is unlike that of others,
and his ways are strange.
¹⁶ We are considered by him as something base,
and he avoids our ways as unclean;
he calls the last end of the righteous happy,
and boasts that God is his father.
¹⁷ Let us see if his words are true,
and let us test what will happen at the end of his life;
¹⁸ for if the righteous man is God’s child, he will help him,
and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.
¹⁹ Let us test him with insult and torture,
so that we may find out how gentle he is,
and make trial of his forbearance.
²⁰ Let us condemn him to a shameful death,
for, according to what he says, he will be protected.’

Error of the Wicked

²¹ Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray,
for their wickedness blinded them,
²² and they did not know the secret purposes of God,
nor hoped for the wages of holiness,
nor discerned the prize for blameless souls;
²³ for God created us for incorruption,
and made us in the image of his own eternity,^*
24 but through the devil’s envy death entered the world,
and those who belong to his company experience it.

The Destiny of the Righteous

3But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
² In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,
and their departure was thought to be a disaster,
³ and their going from us to be their destruction;
but they are at peace.
⁴ For though in the sight of others they were punished,
their hope is full of immortality.
⁵ Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
⁶ like gold in the furnace he tried them,
and like a sacrificial burnt-offering he accepted them.
⁷ In the time of their visitation they will shine forth,
and will run like sparks through the stubble.
⁸ They will govern nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord will reign over them for ever.
⁹ Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will abide with him in love,
because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,
and he watches over his elect.^*

The Destiny of the Ungodly

¹⁰ But the ungodly will be punished as their reasoning deserves,
those who disregarded the righteous^*
and rebelled against the Lord;
¹¹ for those who despise wisdom and instruction are miserable.
Their hope is vain, their labours are unprofitable,
and their works are useless.
¹² Their wives are foolish, and their children evil;
¹³ their offspring are accursed.

On Childlessness

For blessed is the barren woman who is undefiled,
who has not entered into a sinful union;
she will have fruit when God examines souls.
¹⁴ Blessed also is the eunuch whose hands have done no lawless deed,
and who has not devised wicked things against the Lord;
for special favour will be shown him for his faithfulness,
and a place of great delight in the temple of the Lord.
¹⁵ For the fruit of good labours is renowned,
and the root of understanding does not fail.
¹⁶ But children of adulterers will not come to maturity,
and the offspring of an unlawful union will perish.
¹⁷ Even if they live long they will be held of no account,
and finally their old age will be without honour.
¹⁸ If they die young, they will have no hope
and no consolation on the day of judgement.
¹⁹ For the end of an unrighteous generation is grievous.