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Wisdom 3

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1 δικαίων δὲ ψυχαὶ ἐν χειρὶ θεοῦ καὶ οὐ μὴ ἅψηται αὐτῶν βάσανος 2 ἔδοξαν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἀφρόνων τεθνάναι καὶ ἐλογίσθη κάκωσις ἡ ἔξοδος αὐτῶν 3 καὶ ἡ ἀ{F'} ἡμῶν πορεία σύντριμμα οἱ δέ εἰσιν ἐν εἰρήνῃ 4 καὶ γὰρ ἐν ὄψει ἀνθρώπων ἐὰν κολασθῶσιν ἡ ἐλπὶς αὐτῶν ἀθανασίας πλήρης 5 καὶ ὀλίγα παιδευθέντες μεγάλα εὐεργετηθήσονται ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἐπείρασεν αὐτοὺς καὶ εὗρεν αὐτοὺς ἀξίους ἑαυτοῦ 6 ὡς χρυσὸν ἐν χωνευτηρίῳ ἐδοκίμασεν αὐτοὺς καὶ ὡς ὁλοκάρπωμα θυσίας προσεδέξατο αὐτούς 7 καὶ ἐν καιρῷ ἐπισκοπῆς αὐτῶν ἀναλάμψουσιν καὶ ὡς σπινθῆρες ἐν καλάμῃ διαδραμοῦνται 8 κρινοῦσιν ἔθνη καὶ κρατήσουσιν λαῶν καὶ βασιλεύσει αὐτῶν κύριος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας 9 οἱ πεποιθότες ἐ{P'} αὐτῷ συνήσουσιν ἀλήθειαν καὶ οἱ πιστοὶ ἐν ἀγάπῃ προσμενοῦσιν αὐτῷ ὅτι χάρις καὶ ἔλεος τοῖς ἐκλεκτοῖς αὐτοῦ

1 But the souls of the just are in God’s hands, and no torment, in death itself, has power to reach them. 2 Dead? Fools think so; think their end loss, 3 their leaving us, annihilation; but all is well with them. 4 The world sees nothing but the pains they endure; they themselves have eyes only for what is immortal; 5 so light their suffering, so great the gain they win! God, all the while, did but test them, and testing them found them worthy of him. 6 His gold, tried in the crucible, his burnt-sacrifice, graciously accepted, they do but wait for the time of their deliverance; 7 then they will shine out, these just souls, unconquerable as the sparks that break out, now here, now there, among the stubble.[1] 8 Theirs to sit in judgement on nations, to subdue whole peoples, under a Lord whose reign shall last for ever. 9 Trust him if thou wilt, true thou shalt find him;[2] faith waits for him calmly and lovingly; who claims his gift, who shall attain peace, if not they, his chosen servants?[3]

1

Justorum autem animæ in manu Dei sunt,
et non tangent illos tormentum mortis. 2
Visi sunt oculis insipientium mori,
et æstimata est afflictio exitus illorum, 3
et quod a nobis est iter exterminium;
illi autem sunt in pace: 4
etsi coram hominibus tormenta passi sunt,
spes illorum immortalitate plena est. 5
In paucis vexati sunt, in multis bene disponentur,
quoniam Deus tentavit eos,
et invenit illos dignos se. 6
Tamquam aurum in fornace probavit illos,
et quasi holocausti hostiam accepit illos,
et in tempore erit respectus illorum. 7
Fulgebunt justi
et tamquam scintillæ in arundineto discurrent. 8
Judicabunt nationes, et dominabuntur populis,
et regnabit Dominus illorum in perpetuum. 9
Qui confidunt in illo intelligent veritatem,
et fideles in dilectione acquiescent illi,
quoniam donum et pax est electis ejus.

10 οἱ δὲ ἀσεβεῖς καθὰ ἐλογίσαντο ἕξουσιν ἐπιτιμίαν οἱ ἀμελήσαντες τοῦ δικαίου καὶ τοῦ κυρίου ἀποστάντες 11 σοφίαν γὰρ καὶ παιδείαν ὁ ἐξουθενῶν ταλαίπωρος καὶ κενὴ ἡ ἐλπὶς αὐτῶν καὶ οἱ κόποι ἀνόνητοι καὶ ἄχρηστα τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν 12 αἱ γυναῖκες αὐτῶν ἄφρονες καὶ πονηρὰ τὰ τέκνα αὐτῶν ἐπικατάρατος ἡ γένεσις αὐτῶν 13 ὅτι μακαρία στεῖρα ἡ ἀμίαντος ἥτις οὐκ ἔγνω κοίτην ἐν παραπτώματι ἕξει καρπὸν ἐν ἐπισκοπῇ ψυχῶν 14 καὶ εὐνοῦχος ὁ μὴ ἐργασάμενος ἐν χειρὶ ἀνόμημα μηδὲ ἐνθυμηθεὶς κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου πονηρά δοθήσεται γὰρ αὐτῷ τῆς πίστεως χάρις ἐκλεκτὴ καὶ κλῆρος ἐν ναῷ κυρίου θυμηρέστερος 15 ἀγαθῶν γὰρ πόνων καρπὸς εὐκλεής καὶ ἀδιάπτωτος ἡ ῥίζα τῆς φρονήσεως 16 τέκνα δὲ μοιχῶν ἀτέλεστα ἔσται καὶ ἐκ παρανόμου κοίτης σπέρμα ἀφανισθήσεται 17 ἐάν τε γὰρ μακρόβιοι γένωνται εἰς οὐθὲν λογισθήσονται καὶ ἄτιμον ἐ{P'} ἐσχάτων τὸ γῆρας αὐτῶν 18 ἐάν τε ὀξέως τελευτήσωσιν οὐχ ἕξουσιν ἐλπίδα οὐδὲ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ διαγνώσεως παραμύθιον 19 γενεᾶς γὰρ ἀδίκου χαλεπὰ τὰ τέλη

10 But dearly shall the wicked pay for their error,[4] for the claims of right forgotten, for the Lord’s will defied. 11 Their case is pitiable indeed, who make light of true wisdom and of ordered living; vain their hope, profitless their toil, barren their achievement. 12 Light women are the wives they wed, worthless is their brood; 13 a curse lies on their begetting. Blessed, rather, her lot, that childless is, yet chaste, that never knew the bed of shame; offspring she will not lack, when holy souls have their reward. 14 Nay, let there be some eunuch that has kept his hands clear of wrong, has never harboured treasonable thought against the Lord; he too with rare gifts shall be faithfully rewarded, shall have the portion that most contents him in God’s holy place.[5] 15 A noble harvest good men reap from their labours; wisdom is a root which never yet cast its crop. 16 Not so the adulterers; never look for children of theirs to thrive; the offspring of the unhallowed wedlock will vanish away.[6] 17 Live they long, they shall be held in no regard, in their late age unhonoured; 18 die they soon, they shall die without hope, no comfort to sustain them in the day when all comes to light. 19 Bitterly they shall rue it hereafter, the race of the evil-doers.

10
Impii autem secundum quæ cogitaverunt
correptionem habebunt:
qui neglexerunt justum,
et a Domino recesserunt. 11
Sapientiam enim et disciplinam qui abjicit infelix est:
et vacua est spes illorum,
et labores sine fructu,
et inutilia opera eorum. 12
Mulieres eorum insensatæ sunt,
et nequissimi filii eorum. 13
Maledicta creatura eorum, quoniam felix est sterilis;
et incoinquinata, quæ nescivit thorum in delicto,
habebit fructum in respectione animarum sanctarum; 14
et spado qui non operatus est per manus suas iniquitatem,
nec cogitavit adversus Deum nequissima:
dabitur enim illi fidei donum electum,
et sors in templo Dei acceptissima. 15
Bonorum enim laborum gloriosus est fructus,
et quæ non concidat radix sapientiæ. 16
Filii autem adulterorum in inconsummatione erunt,
et ab iniquo thoro semen exterminabitur. 17
Et si quidem longæ vitæ erunt, in nihilum computabuntur,
et sine honore erit novissima senectus illorum: 18
et si celerius defuncti fuerint, non habebunt spem,
nec in die agnitionis allocutionem. 19
Nationis enim iniquæ diræ sunt consummationes.

[1] Mt. 13.43.

[2] ‘Trust him if thou wilt, true thou shalt find him’; literally, ‘those who trust in him shall understand truth’. The word ‘truth’ in the Old Testament refers, as a rule, either to human loyalty or to divine fidelity.

[3] ‘His chosen servants’; the Greek text gives, ‘His holy ones; who shall find deliverance, if not his chosen servants?’

[4] Or perhaps, ‘The scheming of the wicked shall recoil on them in punishment’.

[5] Cf. Deut. 23.1; Is. 56.3. ‘He too with rare gifts shall be faithfully rewarded’; literally, ‘He too shall be given a rare gift of fidelity’.

[6] Some think that adultery, here as often in the Old Testament, is used by a metaphor for the worship of false gods.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd