Their works are useless.
12 Their wives are foolish and their children are wicked.
13 Their descendants are cursed.
For the barren woman who is undefiled is happy,
she who has not conceived in transgression.
She will have fruit when God examines souls.
14 So is the eunuch which has done no lawless deed with his hands,
nor imagined wicked things against the Lord;
for a precious gift will be given to him for his faithfulness,
and a delightful inheritance in the Lord’s sanctuary.
15 For good labours have fruit of great renown.
The root of understanding can’t fail.
16 But children of adulterers will not come to maturity.
The seed of an unlawful union will vanish away.
17 For if they live long, they will not be esteemed,
and in the end, their old age will be without honour.
18 If they die young, they will have no hope,
nor consolation in the day of judgement.
19 For the end of an unrighteous generation is always grievous.
4
1 It is better to be childless with virtue,
for immortality is in the memory of virtue,
because it is recognised both before God and before men.
2 When it is present, people imitate it.
They long after it when it has departed.
Throughout all time it marches, crowned in triumph,
victorious in the competition for the prizes that are undefiled.
3 But the multiplying brood of the ungodly will be of no profit,
and their illegitimate offshoots won’t take deep root,
nor will they establish a sure hold.
4 For even if they grow branches and flourish for a season,
standing unsure, they will be shaken by the wind.
They will be uprooted by the violence of winds.
5 Their branches will be broken off before they come to maturity.
Their fruit will be useless,
never ripe to eat, and fit for nothing.
6 For unlawfully conceived children are witnesses of wickedness
against parents when they are investigated.
7 But a righteous man, even if he dies before his time, will be at rest.
8 For honourable old age is not that which stands in length of time,
nor is its measure given by number of years,
9 but understanding is grey hair to men,
and an unspotted life is ripe old age.
10 Being found well-pleasing to God, someone was loved.
While living amongst sinners he was transported.
11 He was caught away, lest evil should change his understanding,
or guile deceive his soul.
12 For the fascination of wickedness obscures the things which are good,
and the whirl of desire perverts an innocent mind.
13 Being made perfect quickly,
he filled a long time;
14 for his soul was pleasing to the Lord.
Therefore he hurried out of the midst of wickedness.
15 But the peoples saw and didn’t understand,
not considering this, that grace and mercy are with his chosen,
and that he visits his holy ones;
16 but a righteous man who is dead will condemn the ungodly who are living,
and youth who is quickly perfected will condemn the many years of an unrighteous man’s old age.
17 For the ungodly will see a wise man’s end,
and won’t understand what the Lord planned for him,
and why he safely kept him.
18 They will see, and they will despise;
but the Lord will laugh them to scorn.
After this, they will become a dishonoured carcass
and a reproach amongst the dead forever;
19 because he will dash them speechless to the ground,
and will shake them from the foundations.
They will lie utterly waste.
They will be in anguish
and their memory will perish.
20 They will come with coward fear when their sins are counted.
Their lawless deeds will convict them to their face.
5
1 Then the righteous man will stand in great boldness
before the face of those who afflicted him,
and those who make his labours of no account.
2 When they see him, they will be troubled with terrible fear,
and will be amazed at the marvel of salvation.
3 They will speak amongst themselves repenting,
and for distress of spirit they will groan,
“This was he whom we used to hold in derision,
as a parable of reproach.
4 We fools considered his life madness,
and his end without honour.
5 How was he counted amongst sons of God?
How is his lot amongst saints?
6 Truly we went astray from the way of truth.
The light of righteousness didn’t shine for us.
The sun didn’t rise for us.
7 We† took our fill of the paths of lawlessness and destruction.
We travelled through trackless deserts,
but we didn’t know the Lord’s way.
8 What did our arrogance profit us?
What good have riches and boasting brought us?
9 Those things all passed away as a shadow,
like a rumour that runs by,
10 like a ship passing through the billowy water,
which, when it has gone by, there is no trace to be found,
no pathway of its keel in the waves.
11 Or it is like when a bird flies through the air,
no evidence of its passage is found,
but the light wind, lashed with the stroke of its pinions,
and torn apart with the violent rush of the moving wings, is passed through.
Afterwards no sign of its coming remains.
12 Or it is like when an arrow is shot at a mark,
the air it divided closes up again immediately,
so that men don’t know where it passed through.
13 So we also, as soon as we were born, ceased to be;
and we had no sign of virtue to show,
but we were utterly consumed in our wickedness.”
14 Because the hope of the ungodly man is like chaff carried by the wind,
and‡ as§ foam vanishing before a tempest;
and is scattered like smoke by the wind,
and passes by as the remembrance of a guest who stays just a day.
15 But the righteous live forever.
Their reward is in the Lord,
and the care for them with the Most High.
16 Therefore they will receive the crown of royal dignity
and the diadem of beauty from the Lord’s hand,
because he will cover them with his right hand,
and he will shield them with his arm.
17 He will take his zeal as complete armour,
and will make the whole creation his weapons to punish his enemies:
18 He will put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and will wear impartial judgement as a helmet.
19 He will take holiness as an invincible shield.
20 He will sharpen stern wrath for a sword.
The universe will go with him to fight against his frenzied foes.
21 Shafts of lightning will fly with true aim.
They will leap to the mark from the clouds, as from a well-drawn bow.
22 Hailstones full of wrath will be hurled as from a catapult.
The water of the sea will be angered against them.
Rivers will sternly overwhelm them.
23 A mighty wind will encounter them.
It will winnow them away like a tempest.
So lawlessness will make all the land desolate.
Their evil-doing will overturn the thrones of princes.
6
1 Hear therefore, you kings, and understand.
Learn, you judges of the ends of the earth.
2 Give ear, you rulers who have dominion over many people,
and make your boast† in multitudes of nations,
3 because your dominion was given to you from the Lord,
and your sovereignty from the Most High.
He will search out your works,
and will enquire about your plans,
4 because being officers of his kingdom, you didn’t judge rightly,
nor did you keep the law,
nor did you walk according to God’s counsel.
5 He will come upon you awfully and swiftly,
because a stern judgement comes on those who are in high places.
6 For the man of low estate may be pardoned in mercy,
but mighty men will be mightily tested.
7 For the Sovereign Lord of all will not be impressed with anyone,
neither will he show deference to greatness;
because it is he who made both small and great,
and cares about them all;
8 but the scrutiny that comes upon the powerful is strict.
9 Therefore, my words are to you, O princes,
that you may learn wisdom and not fall away.
10 For those who have kept the things that are holy in holiness will be made holy.
Those who have been taught them will find what to say in defence.
11 Therefore set your desire on my words.
Long for them, and you princes will be instructed.
12 Wisdom is radiant and doesn’t fade away;
and is easily seen by those who love her,
and found by those who seek her.
13 She anticipates those who desire her, making herself known.
14 He who rises up early to seek her won’t have difficulty,
for he will find her sitting at his gates.
15 For to think upon her is perfection of understanding,
and he who watches for her will quickly be free from care;
16 because she herself goes around, seeking those who are worthy of her,
and in their paths she appears to them graciously,
and in every purpose she meets them.
17 For her true beginning is desire for instruction;
and desire for instruction is love.
18 And love is observance of her laws.
To give heed to her laws confirms immortality.
19 Immortality brings closeness to God.
20 So then desire for wisdom promotes to a kingdom.
21 If therefore you delight in thrones and sceptres, you princes of peoples,
honour wisdom, that you may reign forever.
22 But what wisdom is, and how she came into being, I will declare.
I won’t hide mysteries from you;
but I will explore from her first beginning,
bring the knowledge of her into clear light,
and I will not pass by the truth.
23 Indeed, I won’t travel with consuming envy,
because envy will have no fellowship with wisdom.
24 But a multitude of wise men is salvation to the world,
and an understanding king is stability for his people.
25 Therefore be instructed by my words, and you will profit.
7
1 I myself am also† mortal, like everyone else,
and am a descendant of one formed first and born of the earth.
2 I moulded into flesh in the time of ten months in my mother’s womb,
being compacted in blood from the seed of man and pleasure of marriage.
3 I also, when I was born, drew in the common air,
and fell upon the kindred earth,
uttering, like all, for my first voice, the same cry.
4 I was nursed with care in swaddling clothes.
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