Wisdom of Solomon

1Love righteousness, you⌃ that be judges of the earth, Think you⌃ of the Lord with a good mind, And in singleness of heart seek you⌃ him;

2Because he is found of them that tempt him not, And is manifested to them that do not distrust him.

3For crooked thoughts separate from God; And the supreme Power, when it is brought to the proof, puts to confusion the foolish:

4Because wisdom will not enter into a soul that deviseth evil, Nor dwell in a body that is held in pledge by sin.

5For a holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit. And will start away from thoughts that are without understanding, And will be put to confusion when unrighteousness has come in.

6For wisdom is a spirit that loves man, And she will not hold a blasphemer guiltless for his lips; Because God bears witness of his reins, And is a true overseer of his heart, And a hearer of his tongue:

7Because the spirit of the Lord has filled the world, And that which holds all things together has knowledge of every voice.

8Therefore no man that utters unrighteous things shall be unseen; Neither shall Justice, when it convicts, pass him by.

9For in the midst of his counsels the ungodly shall be searched out; And the sound of his words shall come to the Lord To bring to conviction his lawless deeds:

10Because there is an ear of jealousy that listens to all things, And the noise of murmurings is not hid.

11Beware then of unprofitable murmuring, And refrain your tongue from backbiting; Because no secret utterance shall go on its way void, And a mouth that belies destroys a soul.

12Court not death in the error of your life; Neither draw upon yourselves destruction by the works of your hands:

13Because God made not death; Neither delights he when the living perish:

14For he created all things that they might have being: And the generative powers of the world are healthsome, And there is no poison of destruction in them: Nor has Hades royal dominion upon earth,

15For righteousness is immortal:

16But ungodly men by their hands and their words called death to them: Deeming him a friend they consumed away, And they made a covenant with him, Because they are worthy to be of his portion.

1For they said within themselves, reasoning not aright, Short and sorrowful is our life; And there is no healing when a man comes to his end, And none was ever known that gave release from Hades.

2Because by mere chance were we born, And hereafter we shall be as though we had never been: Because the breath in our nostrils is smoke, And while our heart beats reason is a spark,

3Which being extinguished, the body shall be turned into ashes, And the spirit shall be dispersed as thin air;

4And our name shall be forgotten in time, And no man shall remember our works; And our life shall pass away as the traces of a cloud, And shall be scattered as is a mist, When it is chased by the beams of the sun, And overcome by the heat thereof.

5For our alloted time is the passing of a shadow, And our end retreats not; Because it is fast sealed, and none turns it back.

6Come therefore and let us enjoy the good things that now are; And let us use the creation with all our soul as youth’s possession.

7Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and perfumes; And let no flower of spring pass us by:

8Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds, before they be withered:

9Let none of us go without his share in our proud revelry: Everywhere let us leave tokens of our mirth: Because this is our portion, and our lot is this.

10Let us oppress the righteous poor; Let us not spare the widow, Nor reverence the hairs of the old man gray for length of years.

11But let our strength be to us a law of righteousness; For that which is weak is found to be of no service.

12But let us lie in wait for the righteous man, Because he is of disservice to us, And is contrary to our works, And upbraids us with sins against the law, And lays to our charge sins against our discipline.

13He professes to have knowledge of God, And names himself servant of the Lord.

14He became to us a reproof of our thoughts.

15He is grievous to us even to behold, Because his life is unlike other men’s, And his paths are of strange fashion.

16We were accounted of him as base metal, And he abstains from our ways as from uncleannesses. The latter end of the righteous he calls happy; And he vaunts that God is his father.

17Let us see if his words be true, And let us try what shall befall in the ending of his life.

18For if the righteous man is God’s son, he will uphold him, And he will deliver him out of the hand of his adversaries.

19With outrage and torture let us put him to the test, That we may learn his gentleness, And may prove his patience under wrong.

20Let us condemn him to a shameful death; For he shall be visited according to his words.

21Thus reasoned they, and they were led astray; For their wickedness blinded them,

22And they knew not the mysteries of God, Neither hoped they for wages of holiness, Nor did they judge that there is a prize for blameless souls.

23Because God created man for incorruption, And made him an image of his own proper being;

24But by the envy of the devil death entered into the world, And they that are of his portion make trial thereof.

1But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, And no torment shall touch them.

2In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died; And their departure was accounted to be their hurt,

3And their journeying away from us to be their ruin: But they are in peace.

4For even if in the sight of men they be punished, Their hope is full of immortality;

5And having borne a little chastening, they shall receive great good; Because God made trial of them, and found them worthy of himself.

6As gold in the furnace he proved them, And as a whole burnt offering he accepted them.

7And in the time of their visitation they shall shine forth, And as sparks among stubble they shall run to and fro.

8They shall judge nations, and have dominion over peoples; And the Lord shall reign over them for evermore.

9They that trust on him shall understand truth, And the faithful shall abide with him in love; Because grace and mercy are to his chosen.

10But the ungodly shall be requited even as they reasoned, They which lightly regarded the righteous man, and revolted from the Lord;

11(For he that sets at nothing wisdom and discipline is miserable;) And void is their hope and their toils unprofitable, And useless are their works:

12Their wives are foolish, and wicked are their children;

13Accursed is their begetting. Because happy is the barren that is undefiled, She who has not conceived in transgression; She shall have fruit when God visiteth souls.

14And happy is the eunuch which has wrought no lawless deed with his hands, Nor imagined wicked things against the Lord; For there shall be given him for his faithfulness a peculiar favor, And a lot in the sanctuary of the Lord more delightsome than wife or children.

15For good labors have fruit of great renown; And the root of understanding can’t fail.

16But children of adulterers shall not come to maturity, And the seed of an unlawful bed shall vanish away.

17For if they live long, they shall be held in no account, And at the last their old age shall be without honor.

18And if they die quickly, they shall have no hope, Nor in the day of decision shall they have consolation.

19For the end of an unrighteous generation is always grievous.

1Better than this is childishness with virtue; For in the memory of virtue is immortality: Because it is recognized both before God and before men.

2When it is present, men imitate it; And they long after it when it is departed: And throughout all time it marcheth crowned in triumph, Victorious in the strife for the prizes that are undefiled.

3But the multiplying brood of the ungodly shall be of no profit, And with bastard slips they shall not strike deep root, Nor shall they establish a sure hold.

4For even if these put forth boughs and flourish for a season, Yet, standing unsure, they shall be shaken by the wind, And by the violence of winds they shall be rooted out.

5Their branches shall be broken off before they come to maturity, and their fruit shall be useless, Never ripe to eat, and fit for nothing.

6For children unlawfully begotten are witnesses of wickedness Against parents when God searcheth them out.

7But a righteous man, though he die before his time, shall be at rest.

8(For honorable old age is not that which stands in length of time, Nor is its measure given by number of years:

9But understanding is gray hairs to men, And an unspotted life is ripe old age.)

10Being found well-pleasing to God he was beloved of him, And while living among sinners he was translated:

11He was caught away, lest wickedness should change his understanding, Or guile deceive his soul.

12(For the bewitching of naughtiness bedimmeth the things which are good, And the giddy whirl of desire perverteth an innocent mind.)

13Being made perfect in a little while, he fulfilled long years;

14For his soul was pleasing to the Lord: Therefore hasted he out of the midst of wickedness.

15But as for the peoples, seeing and understanding not, Neither laying this to heart, That grace and mercy are with his chosen, And that he visiteth his holy ones: —

16But a righteous man that is dead shall condemn the ungodly that are living, And youth that is quickly perfected the many years of an unrighteous man’s old age;

17For the ungodly shall see a wise man’s end, And shall not understand what the Lord purposed concerning him, And for what he safely kept him: —

18They shall see, and they shall despise; But them the Lord shall laugh to scorn. And after this they shall become a dishonored carcase, And a reproach among the dead for ever:

19Because he shall dash them speechless to the ground, And shall shake them from the foundations, And they shall lie utterly waste, and they shall be in anguish, And their memory shall perish.

20They shall come, when their sins are reckoned up, with coward fear; And their lawless deeds shall convict them to their face.

1Then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness Before the face of them that afflicted him, And them that make his labors of no account.

2When they see it, they shall be troubled with terrible fear, And shall be amazed at the marvel of God’s salvation.

3They shall say within themselves repenting, And for distress of spirit shall they groan, This was he whom aforetime we had in derision, And made a parable of reproach:

4We fools accounted his life madness, And his end without honor:

5How was he counted among sons of God? And how is his lot among saints?

6Verily we went astray from the way of truth, And the light of righteousness shined not for us, And the sun rose not for us.

7We took our fill of the paths of lawlessness and destruction, And we journeyed through trackless deserts, But the way of the Lord we knew not.

8What did our arrogancy profit us? And what good have riches and vaunting brought us?

9Those things all passed away as a shadow, And as a message that runs by:

10As a ship passing through the billowy water, Whereof, when it is gone by, there is no trace to be found, Neither pathway of its keel in the billows:

11Or as when a bird flieth through the air, No token of her passage is found, But the light wind, lashed with the stroke of her pinions, And tore asunder with the violent rush of the moving wings, is passed through, And afterwards no sign of her coming is found therein:

12Or as when an arrow is shot at a mark, The air disparted closeth up again immediately, So that men know not where it passed through:

13So we also, as soon as we were born, ceased to be; And of virtue we had no sign to show, But in our wickedness we were utterly consumed.

14Because the hope of the ungodly man is as chaff carried by the wind, And as foam vanishing before a tempest; And is scattered as smoke is scattered by the wind, And passes by as the remembrance of a guest that waits but a day.

15But the righteous live for ever, And in the Lord is their reward, And the care for them with the Most High.

16Therefore shall they receive the crown of royal dignity And the diadem of beauty from the Lord’s hand; Because with his right hand shall he cover them, And with his arm shall he shield them.

17He shall take his jealousy as complete armor, And shall make the whole creation his weapons for vengeance on his enemies:

18He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate, And shall array himself with judgement unfeigned as with a helmet;

19He shall take holiness as an invincible shield,

20And he shall sharpen stern wrath for a sword: And the world shall go forth with him to fight against his insensate foes.

21Shafts of lightning shall fly with true aim, And from the clouds, as from a well drawn bow, shall they leap to the mark.

22And as from an engine of war shall be hurled hailstones full of wrath; The water of the sea shall be angered against them, And rivers shall sternly overwhelm them;

23A mighty blast shall encounter them, And as a tempest shall it winnow them away: And so shall lawlessness make all the land desolate, And their evil-doing shall overturn the thrones of princes.

1Hear therefore, you⌃ kings, and understand; Learn, you⌃ judges of the ends of the earth:

2Give ear, you⌃ that have dominion over much people, And make your boast in multitudes of nations.

3Because your dominion was given you from the Lord, And your sovereignty from the Most High; Who shall search out your works, And shall make inquisition of your counsels:

4Because being officers of his kingdom you⌃ did not judge aright, Neither kept you⌃ law, nor walked after the counsel of God.

5Awfully and swiftly shall he come upon you; Because a stern judgement befalleth them that be in high place:

6For the man of low estate may be pardoned in mercy, But mighty men shall be searched out mightily.

7For the Sovereign Lord of all will not refrain himself for any man’s person, Neither will he reverence greatness; Because it is he that made both small and great, And alike he takes thought for all;

8But strict is the scrutiny that comes upon the powerful.

9To you therefore, O princes, are my words, That you⌃ may learn wisdom and fall not from the right way.

10For they that have kept holily the things that are holy shall themselves be hallowed; And they that have been taught them shall find what to answer;

11Set your desire therefore on my words; Long for them, and you⌃ shall be trained by their discipline.

12Wisdom is radiant and fades not away; And easily is she saw those who love her, And found of them that seek her.

13She forestalleth them that desire to know her, making herself first known.

14He that rises up early to seek her shall have no toil, For he shall find her sitting at his gates.

15For to think upon her is perfectness of understanding, And he that watches for her sake shall quickly be free from care.

16Because she goes about, herself seeking them that are worthy of her, And in their paths she appears to them graciously, And in every purpose she meets them.

17For her true beginning is desire of discipline; And the care for discipline is love of her;

18And love of her is observance of her laws; And to give heed to her laws confirmeth incorruption;

19And incorruption brings near to God;

20So then desire of wisdom promoteth to a kingdom.

21If therefore you⌃ delight in thrones and sceptres, you⌃ princes of peoples, Honor wisdom, that you⌃ may reign for ever.

22But what wisdom is, and how she came into being, I will declare, And I will not hide mysteries from you; But I will trace her out from the beginning of creation, And bring the knowledge of her into clear light, And I will not pass by the truth;

23Neither indeed will I take pining envy for my companion in the way, Because envy shall have no fellowship with wisdom.

24But a multitude of wise men is salvation to the world, And an understanding king is tranquillity to his people.

25Wherefore be disciplined by my words, and thereby shall you⌃ profit.

1I myself also am mortal, like to all, And am sprung from one born of the earth, the man first formed,

2And in the womb of a mother was I moulded into flesh in the time of ten months, Being compacted in blood of the seed of man and pleasure that came with sleep.

3And 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 selfsame wail:

4In swaddling clothes was I nursed, and with watchful cares.

5For no king had any other first beginning;

6But all men have one entrance into life, and a like departure.

7For this cause I prayed, and understanding was given me: I called upon God, and there came to me a spirit of wisdom.

8I preferred her before sceptres and thrones, And riches I esteemed nothing in comparison of her.

9Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem, Because all the gold of the earth in her presence is a little sand, And silver shall be accounted as clay before her.

10Above health and comeliness I loved her, And I chose to have her rather than light, Because her bright shining is never laid to sleep.

11But with her there came to me all good things together, And in her hands innumerable riches:

12And I rejoiced over them all because wisdom leads them; Though I knew not that she was the mother of them.

13As I learned without guile, I impart without grudging; I do not hide her riches.

14For she is to men a treasure that fails not, And they that use it obtain friendship with God, Commended to him by the gifts which they through discipline present to him.

15But to me may God give to speak with judgement, And to conceive thoughts worthy of what has been given me; Because himself is one that guideth even wisdom and that correcteth the wise.

16For in his hand are both we and our words; All understanding, and all acquaintance with various crafts.

17For himself gave me an unerring knowledge of the things that are, To know the constitution of the world, and the operation of the elements;

18The beginning and end and middle of times, The alternations of the solstices and the changes of seasons,

19The circuits of years and the positions of stars;

20The natures of living creatures and the ragings of wild beasts, The violences of winds and the thoughts of men, The diversities of plants and the virtues of roots:

21All things that are either secret or manifest I learned,

22For she that is the artificer of all things taught me, even wisdom. For there is in her a spirit quick of understanding, holy, Alone in kind, manifold, Subtil, freely moving, Clear in utterance, unpolluted, Distinct, unharmed, Loving what is good, keen, unhindered,

23Beneficent, loving toward man, Stedfast, sure, free from care, All-powerful, all-surveying, And penetrating through all spirits That are quick of understanding, pure, most subtil:

24For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; Yes, she pervadeth and penetrateth all things by reason of her pureness.

25For she is a breath of the power of God, And a clear effluence of the glory of the Almighty; Therefore can nothing defiled find entrance into her.

26For she is an effulgence from everlasting light, And an unspotted mirror of the working of God, And an image of his goodness.

27And she, being one, has power to do all things; And remaining in herself, reneweth all things: And from generation to generation passing into holy souls She makes men friends of God and prophets.

28For nothing does God love save him that dwells with wisdom.

29For she is fairer than the sun, And above all the constellations of the stars: Being compared with light, she is found to be before it;

30For to the light of day succeedeth night, But against wisdom evil does not prevail;

1But she reaches from one end of the world to the other with full strength, And ordereth all things graciously.

2Her I loved and sought out from my youth, And I sought to take her for my bride, And I became enamoured of her beauty.

3She glorifieth her noble birth in that it is given her to live with God, And the Sovereign Lord of all loved her.

4For she is initiated into the knowledge of God, And she chooseth out for him his works.

5But if riches are a desired possession in life, What is richer than wisdom, which works all things?

6And if understanding works, Who more than wisdom is an artificer of the things that are?

7And if a man loves righteousness, The fruits of wisdom’s labor are virtues, For she teaches soberness and understanding, righteousness and courage; And there is nothing in life for men more profitable than these.

8And if a man longeth even for much experience, She knows the things of old, and divineth the things to come: She understands subtilties of speeches and interpretations of dark sayings: She foresees signs and wonders, and the issues of seasons and times.

9I determined therefore to take her to me to live with me, Knowing that she is one who would give me good thoughts for counsel, And encourage me in cares and grief.

10Because of her I shall have glory among multitudes, And honor in the sight of elders, though I be young.

11I shall be found of a quick conceit when I give judgement, And in the presence of princes I shall be admired.

12When I am silent, they shall wait for me; And when I open my lips, they shall give heed to me; And if I continue speaking, they shall lay their hand upon their mouth.

13Because of her I shall have immortality, And leave behind an eternal memory to them that come after me.

14I shall govern peoples, And nations shall be subjected to me.

15Dread princes shall fear me when they hear of me: Among my people I shall show myself a good ruler, and in war courageous.

16When I am come into my house, I shall find rest with her; For converse with her has no bitterness, And to live with her has no pain, but gladness and joy.

17When I considered these things in myself, And took thought in my heart how that in kinship to wisdom is immortality,

18And in her friendship is good delight, And in the labors of her hands is wealth that fails not, And in assiduous communing with her is understanding, And great renown in having fellowship with her words, I went about seeking how to take her to myself.

19Now I was a child of parts, and a good soul fell to my lot;

20Nay rather, being good, I came into a body undefiled.

21But perceiving that I could not otherwise possess wisdom except God gave her me (Yes and to know by whom the grace is given, this too came of understanding), I pleaded with the Lord and implored him, and with my whole heart I said,

1O God of the fathers, and Lord who keep your mercy, Who made all things by your word;

2And by your wisdom you formedst man, That he should have dominion over the creatures that were made by you,

3And rule the world in holiness and righteousness, And execute judgement in uprightness of soul;

4Give me wisdom, her that sits by you on your throne; And reject me not from among your servants:

5Because I am your bondman and the son of your handmaid, A man weak and short-lived, And of small power to understand judgement and laws.

6For even if a man be perfect among the sons of men, Yet if the wisdom that comes from you be not with him, he shall be held in no account.

7You did choose me before my brethren to be king of your people, And to do judgement for your sons and daughters.

8You gave command to build a sanctuary in your holy mountain, And an altar in the city of your habitation, A copy of the holy tabernacle which you prepared beforehand from the beginning.

9And with you is wisdom, which knows your works, And was present when you were making the world, And which understands what is pleasing in your eyes, And what is right according to your commandments.

10Send her forth out of the holy heavens, And from the throne of your glory bid her come, That being present with me she may toil with me, And that I may learn what is well-pleasing before you.

11For she knows all things and has understanding thereof, And in my doings she shall guide me in ways of soberness, And she shall guard me in her glory.

12And so shall my works be acceptible, And I shall judge your people righteously, And I shall be worthy of my father’s throne.

13For what man shall know the counsel of God? Or who shall conceive what the Lord willeth?

14For the thoughts of mortals are timorous, And our devices are prone to fail.

15For a corruptible body weighs down the soul, And the earthy frame lies heavy on a mind that is full of cares.

16And hardly do we divine the things that are on earth, And the things that are close at hand we find with labor; But the things that are in the heavens who ever yet traced out?

17And who ever gained knowledge of your counsel, except you gave wisdom, And sent your holy spirit from on high?

18And it was thus that the ways of them which are on earth were corrected, And men were taught the things that are pleasing to you; And through wisdom were they saved.

1Wisdom guarded to the end the first formed father of the world, that was created alone, And delivered him out of his own transgression,

2And gave him strength to get dominion over all things.

3But when an unrighteous man fell away from her in his anger, He perished himself in the rage wherewith he killed his brother.

4And when for his cause the earth was drowning with a flood, Wisdom again saved it, Guiding the righteous man’s course by a poor piece of wood.

5Moreover, when nations consenting together in wickedness had been confounded, Wisdom knew the righteous man, and preserved him blameless to God, And kept him strong when his heart yearned toward his child.

6While the ungodly were perishing, wisdom delivered a righteous man, When he fled from the fire that descended out of heaven on Pentapolis.

7To whose wickedness a smoking waste still witnesseth, And plants bearing fair fruit that comes not to ripeness; Yes and a disbelieving soul has a memorial there, a pillar of salt still standing.

8For having passed wisdom by, Not only were they disabled from recognising the things which are good, But they also left behind them for human life a monument of their folly; To the end that where they went astray they might fail even to be unseen:

9But wisdom delivered out of troubles those that waited on her.

10When a righteous man was a fugitive from a brother’s wrath, wisdom guided him in straight paths; She showed him God’s kingdom, and gave him knowledge of holy things; She prospered him in his toils, and multiplied the fruits of his labor;

11When in their covetousness men dealt hardly with him, She stood by him and made him rich;

12She guarded him from enemies, And from those that lay in wait she kept him safe, And over his sore conflict she watched as judge, That he might know that godliness is more powerful than all.

13When a righteous man was sold, wisdom forsook him not, But from sin she delivered him; She went down with him into a dungeon,

14And in bonds she left him not, Till she brought him the sceptre of a kingdom, And authority over those that dealt tyrannously with him; She showed them also to be false that had mockingly accused him, And gave him eternal glory.

15Wisdom delivered a holy people and a blameless seed from a nation of oppressors.

16She entered into the soul of a servant of the Lord, And withstood terrible kings in wonders and signs.

17She rendered to holy men a reward of their toils; She guided them along a marvelous way, And became to them a covering in the day-time, And a flame of stars through the night.

18She brought them over the Red sea, And led them through much water;

19But their enemies she drowned, And out of the bottom of the deep she cast them up.

20Therefore the righteous spoiled the ungodly; And they sang praise to your holy name, O Lord, And extolled with one accord your hand that fought for them:

21Because wisdom opened the mouth of the dumb, And made the tongues of babes to speak clearly.

1She prospered their works in the hand of a holy prophet.

2They journeyed through a desert without inhabitant, And in trackless regions they pitched their tents.

3They withstood enemies, and repelled foes.

4They thirsted, and they called upon you, And there was given them water out of the flinty rock, And healing of their thirst out of the hard stone.

5For by what things their foes were punished, By these they in their need were benefited.

6When the enemy were troubled with clotted blood instead of a river’s ever-flowing fountain,

7To rebuke the decree for the slaying of babes, You gave them abundant water beyond all hope,

8Having shewn them by the thirst which they had suffered how you did punish the adversaries.

9For when they were tried, albeit but in mercy chastened, They learned how the ungodly were tormented, being judged with wrath:

10For these, as a father, admonishing them, you did prove; But those, as a stern king, condemning them, you did search out.

11Yes and whether they were far off from the righteous or near them, they were alike distressed;

12For a double grief took hold on them, And a groaning at the remembrance of things past.

13For when they heard that through their own punishments the others had been benefited, They felt the presence of the Lord;

14For him who long before was cast forth and exposed they left off mocking: In the last issue of what came to pass they marveled, Having thirsted in another manner than the righteous.

15But in requital of the senseless imaginings of their unrighteousness, Wherein they were led astray to worship irrational reptiles and wretched vermin, You did send upon them a multitude of irrational creatures for vengeance;

16That they might learn, that by what things a man sins, by these he is punished.

17For your all-powerful hand, That created the world out of formless matter, Lacked not means to send upon them a multitude of bears, or fierce lions,

18Or new-created wild beasts, full of rage, of unknown kind, Either breathing out a blast of fiery breath, Or blowing forth from their nostrils noisome smoke, Or flashing dreadful sparkles from their eyes;

19Which had power not only to consume them by their violence, But to destroy them even by the terror of their sight.

20Yes and without these might they have fallen by a single breath, Being pursued by Justice, and scattered abroad by the breath of your power. But by measure and number and weight you did order all things.

21For to be greatly strong is your at all times; And the might of your arm who shall withstand?

22Because the whole world before you is as a grain in a balance, And as a drop of dew that at morning comes down upon the earth.

23But you have mercy on all men, because you have power to do all things, And you overlookest the sins of men to the end they may repent.

24For you love all things that are, And abhor none of the things which you did make; For never would you have formed anything if you did hate it.

25And how would anything have endured, except you had willed it? Or that which was not called by you, how would it have been preserved?

26But you spare all things, because they are your, O Soverign Lord, you lover of men’s lives;

1For your incorruptible spirit is in all things.

2Wherefore you convictest by little and little them that fall from the right way, And, putting them in remembrance by the very things wherein they sin, do you admonish them, That escaping from their wickedness they may believe on you, O Lord.

3For verily the old inhabitants of your holy land,

4Hating them because they practised detestable works of enchantments and unholy rites

5(Merciless slaughters of children, And sacrificial banquets of men’s flesh and of blood),

6Confederates in an impious fellowship, And murderers of their own helpless babes, It was your counsel to destroy by the hands of our fathers;

7That the land which in your sight is most precious of all lands Might receive a worthy colony of God’s servants.

8Nevertheless even these you did spare as being men, And you sent hornets as forerunners of your host, To cause them to perish by little and little;

9Not that you were unable to subdue the ungodly under the hand of the righteous in battle, Or by terrible beasts or by one stern word to make away with them at once;

10But judging them by little and little you gave them a place of repentance, Not being ignorant that their nature by birth was evil, and their wickedness inborn, And that their manner of thought would in no wise ever be changed,

11For they were a seed accursed from the beginning: Neither was it through fear of any that you did leave them then unpunished for their sins.

12For who shall say, What have you done? Or who shall withstand your judgement? And who shall accuse you for the perishing of nations which you did make? Or who shall come and stand before you as an avenger for unrighteous men?

13For neither is there any God beside you that careth for all, That you might show to him that you did not judge unrighteously:

14Neither shall king or prince be able to look you in the face to plead for those whom you have punished.

15But being righteous you rule all things righteously, Deeming it a thing alien from your power To condemn one that does not himself deserve to be punished.

16For your strength is the beginning of righteousness, And your sovereignty over all makes you to forbear all.

17For when men believe not that you are perfect in power, you show your strength, And in dealing with them that know it you put their boldness to confusion.

18But you, being sovereign over your strength, judge in gentleness, And with great forbearance do you govern us; For the power is your whenever you have the will.

19But you did teach your people by such works as these, How that the righteous must be a lover of men; And you did make your sons to be of good hope, Because you give repentance when men have sinned.

20For if on them that were enemies of your servants and due to death You did take vengeance with so great heedfulness and indulgence, Giving them times and place whereby they might escape from their wickedness;

21With how great carefulness did you judge your sons, To whose fathers you gave oaths and covenants of good promises!

22While therefore you do chasten us, you scourge our enemies ten thousand times more, To the intent that we may ponder your goodness when we judge, And when we are judged may look for mercy.

23Wherefore also the unrighteous that lived in folly of life You did torment through their own abominations.

24For verily they went astray very far in the ways of error, Taking as gods those animals which even among their enemies were held in dishonor, Deceived like foolish babes.

25Therefore, as to unreasoning children, you did send your judgement to mock them.

26But they that would not be admonished by a mocking correction as of children Shall have experience of a judgement worthy of God.

27For through the sufferings whereat they were indignant, Being punished in these creatures which they supposed to be gods, They saw, and recognized as the true God him whom before they refused to know: Wherefore also the last end of condemnation came upon them.

1For verily all men by nature were but vain who had no perception of God, And from the good things that are seen they gained not power to know him that is, Neither by giving heed to the works did they recognize the artificer;

2But either fire, or wind, or swift air, Or circling stars, or raging water, or luminaries of heaven, They thought to be gods that rule the world.

3And if it was through delight in their beauty that they took them to be gods, Let them know how much better than these is their Sovereign Lord; For the first author of beauty created them:

4But if it was through astonishment at their power and influence, Let them understand from them how much more powerful is he that formed them;

5For from the greatness of the beauty even of created things In like proportion does man form the image of their first maker.

6But yet for these men there is but small blame, For they too perhaps do but go astray While they are seeking God and desiring to find him.

7For living among his works they make diligent search, And they yield themselves up to sight, because the things that they look upon are beautiful.

8But again even they are not to be excused.

9For if they had power to know so much, That they should be able to explore the course of things, How is it that they did not sooner find the Sovereign Lord of these his works?

10But miserable were they, and in dead things were their hopes, Who called them gods which are works of men’s hands, Gold and silver, wrought with careful are, and likenesses of animals, Or a useless stone, the work of an ancient hand.

11Yes and if some woodcutter, having sawn down a tree that is easily moved, Skilfully strippeth away all its bark, And fashioning it in comely form makes a vessel useful for the service of life;

12And burning the refuse of his handywork to dress his food, eats his fill;

13And taking the very refuse thereof which served to no use, A crooked piece of wood and full of knots, Carveth it with the diligence of his idleness, And shapeth it by the skill of his indolence; Then he gives it the semblance of the image of a man,

14Or makes it like some paltry animal, Smearing it with vermilion, and with paint colouring it red, And smearing over every stain that is therein;

15And having made for it a chamber worthy of it, He sets it in a wall, making it fast with iron.

16While then he takes thought for it that it may not fall down, Knowing that it is unable to help itself; (For verily it is an image, and has need of help;)

17When he makes his prayer concerning goods and his marriage and children, He is not ashamed to speak to that which has no life;

18Yes for health he calls upon that which is weak, And for life he implores that which is dead, And for aid he supplicateth that which has least experience. And for a good journey that which can’t so much as move a step,

19And for gaining and getting and good success of his hands He asks ability of that which with its hands is most unable.

1Again, one preparing to sail, and about to journey over raging waves, Calleth upon a piece of wood more rotten than the vessel that carries him;

2For that vessel the hunger for gains devised, And an artificer, even wisdom, built it;

3And your providence, O Father, guideth it along, Because even in the sea you gave a way, And in the waves a sure path,

4Shewing that you can save out of every danger, That so even without are a man may put to sea;

5And it is your will that the works of your wisdom should be not idle; Therefore also do men intrust their lives to a little piece of wood,, And passing through the surge on a raft are brought safe to land.

6For in the old time also, when proud giants were perishing, The hope of the world, taking refuge on a raft, Left to the race of men a seed of generations to come, Your hand guiding the helm.

7For blessed has been wood through which comes righteousness:

8But the idol made with hands is accursed, itself and he that made it; Because his was the working, and the corruptible thing was named a god:

9For both the ungodly doer and his ungodliness are alike hateful to God;

10For verily the deed shall be punished together with him that committed it.

11Therefore also among the idols of the nations shall there be a visitation, Because, though formed of things which God created, they were made an abomination, And stumbling blocks to the souls of men, And a snare to the feet of the foolish.

12For the devising of idols was the beginning of fornication, And the invention of them the corruption of life:

13For neither were they from the beginning, neither shall they be for ever;

14For by the vaingloriousness of men they entered into the world, And therefore was a speedy end devised for them.

15For a father worn with untimely grief, Making an image of the child quickly taken away, Now honored him as a god which was then a dead man, And delivered to those that were under him mysteries and solemn rites.

16Afterward the ungodly custom, in process of time grown strong, was kept as a law, And by the commandments of princes the graven images received worship.

17And when men could not honor them in presence because they lived far off, Imagining the likeness from afar, They made a visible image of the king whom they honored, That by their zeal they might flatter the absent as if present.

18But to a yet higher pitch was worship raised even by them that knew him not, Urged forward by the ambition of the artificer:

19For he, wishing perhaps to please one in authority, Used his are to force the likeness toward a greater beauty;

20And the multitude, allured by reason of the grace of his handywork, Now accounted as an object of devotion him that a little before was honored as a man.

21And this became a hidden danger to life, Because men, in bondage either to calamity or to tyranny, Invested stones and stocks with the incommunicable Name.

22Afterward it was not enough for them to go astray as touching the knowledge of God; But also, while they live in sore conflict through ignorance of him. That multitude of evils they call peace.

23For either slaughtering children in solemn rites, or celebrating secret mysteries, Or holding frantic revels of strange ordinances,

24No longer do they guard either life or purity of marriage, But one brings upon another either death by treachery, or anguish by adulterate offspring.

25And all things confusedly are filled with blood and murder, theft and deceit, Corruption, faithlessness, tumult, perjury,

26turmoil, Ingratitude for benefits received, Defiling of souls, confusion of sex, Disorder in marriage, adultery and wantonness.

27For the worship of those nameless idols Is a beginning and cause and end of every evil.

28For their worshippers either make merry to madness, or prophesy lies, Or live unrighteously, or lightly forswear themselves.

29For putting their trust in lifeless idols, When they have sworn a wicked oath, they expect not to suffer harm.

30But for both sins shall the just doom pursue them, Because they had evil thoughts of God by giving heed to idols, And swore unrighteously in deceit through contempt for holiness.

31For it is not the power of them by whom men swear, But it is that Justice which has regard to them that sin, That visiteth always the transgression of the unrighteous.

1But you, our God, are gracious and true, Longsuffering, and in mercy ordering all things.

2For even if we sin, we are your, knowing your dominion; But we shall not sin, knowing that we have been accounted your:

3For to be acquainted with you is perfect righteousness, And to know your dominion is the root of immortality.

4For neither were we led astray by any evil device of men’s are, Nor yet by painters’ fruitless labor, A form stained with varied colors;

5The sight whereof leads fools into lust: Their desire is for the breathless form of a dead image.

6Lovers of evil things, and worthy of such hopes as these, Are both they that do, and they that desire, and they that worship.

7For a potter, kneading soft earth, Laboriously mouldeth each several vessel for our service: Nay, out of the same clay does he fashion Both the vessels that minister to clean uses, and those of a contrary sort, All in like manner; But what shall be the use of each vessel of either sort, The craftsman himself is the judge.

8And also, laboring to an evil end, he mouldeth a vain god out of the same clay, He who, having but a little before been made of earth, After a short space goes his way to the earth out of which he was taken, When he is required to render back the soul which was lent him.

9Howbeit he has anxious care, Not because his powers must fail, Nor because his span of life is short; But he matcheth himself against goldsmiths and silversmiths, And he imitateth moulders in brass, And esteemeth it glory that he mouldeth counterfeits.

10His heart is ashes, And his hope of less value than earth, And his life of less honor than clay:

11Because he was ignorant of him that moulded him, And of him that inspired into him an active soul, And breathed into him a vital spirit.

12But he accounted our very life to be a plaything, And our lifetime a gainful fair; For, says he, one must get gain whence one can, though it be by evil.

13For this man beyond all others knows that he sins, Out of earthy matter making brittle vessels and graven images.

14But most foolish were they all, and of feebler soul than a babe, The enemies of your people, who oppressed them;

15Because they even accounted all the idols of the nations to be gods; Which have neither the use of eyes for seeing, Nor nostrils for drawing breath, Nor ears to hear, Nor fingers for handling, And their feet are helpless for walking.

16For a man made them, And one whose own spirit is borrowed moulded them; For no one has power, being a man, to mould a god like to himself,

17But, being mortal, he makes a dead thing by the work of lawless hands; For he is better than the objects of his worship, Forasmuch as he indeed had life, but they never.

18Yes, and the creatures that are most hateful do they worship, For, being compared as to lack of sense, these are worse than all others;

19Neither, as seen beside other creatures, are they beautiful, so that one should desire them, But they have escaped both the praise of God and his blessing.

1For this cause were these men worthily punished through creatures like those which they worship, And tormented through a multitude of vermin.

2Instead of which punishment, you, bestowing benefits on your people, Preparedst quails for food, Food of rare taste, to satisfy the desire of their appetite;

3To the end that your enemies, desiring food, Might for the hideousness of the creatures sent among them Loathe even the necessary appetite; But these, your people, having for a short space suffered lack, Might even partake of food of rare taste.

4For it was needful that upon those should come inexorable lack in their tyrannous dealing, But that to these it should only be showed how their enemies were tormented.

5For even when terrible raging of wild beasts came upon your people, And they were perishing by the bites of crooked serpents, Your wrath continued not to the uttermost;

6But for admonition were they troubled for a short space, Having a token of salvation, To put them in remembrance of the commandment of your law:

7For he that turned toward it was not saved because of that which was seen, But because of you, the Saviour of all.

8Yes, and in this did you persuade our enemies, That you are he that delivers out of every evil.

9For them verily the bites of locusts and flies did kill, And there was not found a healing for their life, Because they were worthy to be punished by such as these;

10But your sons not the very teeth of venomous dragons overcame, For your mercy passed by where they were, and healed them.

11For they were bitten, to put them in remembrance of your oracles; And were quickly saved, lest, falling into deep forgetfulness, They should become unable to be roused by your beneficence:

12For of a truth it was neither herb nor mollifying plaister that cured them, But your word, O Lord, which heals all things;

13For you have authority over life and death, And you lead down to the gates of Hades, and lead up again.

14But though a man may kill by his wickedness, Yet the spirit that is gone forth he turns not again, Neither gives release to the soul that Hades has received.

15But your hand it is not possible to escape;

16For ungodly men, refusing to know you, were scourged in the strength of your arm, Pursued with strange rains and hails and showers inexorable, And utterly consumed with fire;

17For, what was most marvelous of all, In the water which quenches all things the fire wrought yet more mightily; For the world fights for the righteous.

18For at one time the flame lost its fierceness, That it might not burn up the creatures sent against the ungodly, But that these themselves as they looked might see that they were chased through the judgement of God:

19And at another time even in the midst of water it burns above the power of fire, That it may destroy the fruits of an unrighteous land.

20Instead whereof you gave your people angels’ food to eat, And bread ready for their use did you provide for them from heaven without their toil, Bread having the virtue of every pleasant savor, And agreeing to every taste;

21For your nature manifested your sweetness toward your children; While that bread, ministering to the desire of the eater, Tempered itself according to every man’s choice.

22But snow and ice endured fire, and melted not, That men might know that fire was destroying the fruits of the enemies, Burning in the hail and flashing in the rains;

23And that this element again, in order that righteous men may be nourished, Hath even forgotten its own power.

24For the creation, ministering to you its maker, Straineth its force against the unrighteous, for punishment, And slackeneth it in behalf of them that trust in you, for beneficence.

25Therefore at that time also, converting itself into all forms, It ministered to your all-nourishing bounty, According to the desire of them that made supplication;

26That your sons, whom you loved, O Lord, might learn That it is not the growth of the earth’s fruits that nourishes a man, But that your word preserves them that trust you.

27For that which was not marred by fire, When it was simply warmed by a faint sunbeam melted away;

28That it might be known that we must rise before the sun to give you thanks, And must plead with you at the dawning of the light:

29For the hope of the unthankful shall melt as the winter’s hoar frost, And shall flow away as water that has no use.

1For great are your judgements, and hard to interpret; Therefore souls undisciplined went astray.

2For when lawless men had supposed that they held a holy nation in their power, They, themselves, prisoners of darkness, and bound in the fetters of a long night, Close kept beneath their roofs, Lay exiled from the eternal providence.

3For while they thought that they were unseen in their secret sins, They were sundered one from another by a dark curtain of forgetfulness, Stricken with terrible awe, and sore troubled by spectral forms.

4For neither did the dark recesses that held them guard them from fears, But sounds rushing down rang around them, And phantoms appeared, cheerless with unsmiling faces.

5And no force of fire prevailed to give them light, Neither were the brightest flames of the stars strong enough to illumine that gloomy night:

6But only there appeared to them the glimmering of a fire self-kindled, full of fear; And in terror they deemed the things which they saw To be worse than that sight, on which they could not gaze.

7And they lay helpless, made the sport of magic are, And a shameful rebuke of their vaunts of understanding:

8For they that promised to drive away terrors and troublings from a sick soul, These were themselves sick with a ludicrous fearfulness:

9For even if no troublous thing affrighted them, Yet, scared with the creepings of vermin and hissings of serpents,

10they perished for very trembling, Refusing even to look on the air, which could on no side be escaped.

11For wickedness, condemned by a witness within, is a coward thing, And, being pressed hard by conscience, always forecasts the worst lot:

12For fear is nothing else but a surrender of the help which reason offers;

13And from within the heart the expectation of them being less Maketh of greater account the ignorance of the cause that brings the torment.

14But they, all through the night which was powerless indeed, And which came upon them out of the recesses of powerless Hades, All sleeping the same sleep,

15Now were haunted by monstrous apparitions, And now were paralysed by their soul’s surrendering; For fear sudden and unlooked for came upon them.

16So then every man, whoever it might be, sinking down in his place, Was kept in ward shut up in that prison which was barred not with iron:

17For whether he were a husbandman, or a shepherd, Or a labourer whose toils were in the wilderness, He was overtaken, and endured that inevitable necessity, For with one chain of darkness were they all bound.

18Whether there were a whistling wind, Or a melodious noise of birds among the spreading branches, Or a measured fall of water running violently,

19Or a harsh crashing of rocks hurled down, Or the swift course of animals bounding along unseen, Or the voice of wild beasts harshly roaring, Or an echo rebounding from the hollows of the mountains, All these things paralysed them with terror.

20For the whole world beside was enlightened with clear light, And was occupied with unhindered works;

21While over them alone was spread a heavy night, An image of the darkness that should afterward receive them; But yet heavier than darkness were they to themselves.

1But for your holy ones there was great light; And the Egyptians, hearing their voice but seeing not their form, Counted it a happy thing that they too had suffered,

2Yet for that they do not hurt them now, though wronged by them before, they are thankful; And because they had been at variance with them, they made supplication to them.

3Whereas you did provide for your people a burning pillar of fire, To be a guide for their unknown journey, And withal a kindly sun for their proud exile.

4For well did the Egyptians deserve to be deprived of light and imprisoned by darkness, They who had kept in close ward your sons, Through whom the incorruptible light of the law was to be given to the race of men.

5After they had taken counsel to kill the babes of the holy ones, And when a single child had been cast forth and saved to convict them of their sin, You took away from them their multitude of children, And destroyed all their host together in a mighty flood.

6Of that night were our fathers made aware beforehand, That, having sure knowledge, they might be cheered by the oaths which they had trusted:

7So by your people was expected salvation of the righteous and destruction of the enemies;

8For as you did take vengeance on the adversaries, By the same means, calling us to yourself, you did glorify us.

9For holy children of good men offered sacrifice in secret, And with one consent they took upon themselves the covenant of the divine law, That they would partake alike in the same good things and the same perils; The fathers already leading the sacred songs of praise.

10But there sounded back in discord the cry of the enemies, And a piteous voice of lamentation for children was borne abroad.

11And servant along with master punished with a like just doom, And commoner suffering the same as king,

12Yes, all the people together, under one form of death, Had with them corpses without number; For the living were not sufficient even to bury them, Since at a single stroke their nobler offspring was consumed.

13For while they were disbelieving all things by reason of the enchantments, Upon the destruction of the firstborn they confessed the people to be God’s son.

14For while peaceful silence enwrapped all things, And night in her own swiftness was in mid course,

15Your all-powerful word leaped from heaven out of the royal throne, A stern warrior, into the midst of the doomed land,

16Bearing as a sharp sword your unfeigned commandment; And standing it filled all things with death; And while it touched the heaven it trode upon the earth.

17Then forthwith apparitions in dreams terribly troubled them, And fears came upon them unlooked for.

18And each, one thrown here half dead, another there, Made manifest wherefore he was dying:

19For the dreams, perturbing them, did foreshew this, That they might not perish without knowing why they were afflicted.

20But it befell the righteous also to make trial of death, And a multitude were stricken in the wilderness: Howbeit the wrath endured not for long.

21For a blameless man hasted to be their champion: Bringing the weapon of his own ministry, Even prayer and the propitiation of incense, He withstood the indignation, and set an end to the calamity, Shewing that he was your servant.

22And he overcame the anger, Not by strength of body, not by efficacy of weapons; But by word did he subdue the minister of punishment, By bringing to remembrance oaths and covenants made with the fathers.

23For when the dead were already fallen in heaps one upon another, Standing between he stopped the advancing wrath, And cut off the way to the living.

24For upon his long high-priestly robe was the whole world, And the glories of the fathers were upon the graving of the four rows of precious stones, And your majesty was upon the diadem of his head.

25To these the destroyer gave place, and these the people feared; For it was enough only to make trial of the wrath.

1But upon the ungodly there came to the end indignation without mercy; For their future also God foreknew,

2How that, having changed their minds to let your people go, And having speeded them eagerly on their way, They would repent themselves and pursue them.

3For while they were yet in the midst of their mourning, And making lamentation at the graves of the dead, They drew upon themselves another counsel of folly, And pursued as fugitives those whom with intreaties they had cast out.

4For the doom which they deserved was drawing them to this end, And it made them forget the things that had befallen them, That they might fill up the punishment which was yet lacking to their torments,

5And that your people might journey on by a marvelous road, But they themselves might find a strange death.

6For the whole creation, each part in its several kind, was fashioned again anew, Ministering to your several commandments, That your servants might be guarded free from hurt.

7Then the cloud that shadowed the camp was seen, And dry land rising up out of what before was water, Out of the Red sea an unhindered highway, And a grassy plain out of the violent surge;

8By which they passed over with all their hosts, These that were covered with your hand, Having seen strange marvels.

9For like horses they roamed at large, And they skipped about like lambs, Praising you, O Lord, who was their deliverer.

10For they still remembered the things that came to pass in the time of their sojourning, How that instead of bearing cattle the land brought forth lice, And instead of fish the river cast up a multitude of frogs.

11But afterwards they saw also a new race of birds, When, led on by desire, they asked for luxurious dainties;

12For, to solace them, there came up for them quails from the sea.

13And upon the sinners came the punishments Not without the tokens that were given beforehand by the force of the thunders; For justly did they suffer through their own wickednesses, For grievous indeed was the hatred which they practised toward guests.

14For whereas the men of Sodom received not the strangers when they came among them; The Egyptians made slaves of guests who were their benefactors.

15And not only so, but God shall visit the men of Sodom after another sort, Since they received as enemies them that were aliens;

16Whereas these first welcomed with feastings, And then afflicted with dreadful toils, Them that had already shared with them in the same rights.

17And moreover they were stricken with loss of sight (Even as were those others at the righteous man’s doors), When, being compassed about with yawning darkness, They sought every one the passage through his own door.

18For as the notes of a lute vary the character of the rhythm, Even so did the elements, changing their order one with another, Continuing always the same, each in its several sound; As may clearly be divined from the sight of the things that are come to pass.

19For creatures of the dry land were turned into creatures of the waters, And creatures that swim trode now upon the earth:

20Fire kept the mastery of its own power in the midst of water, And water forgat its quenching nature:

21Contrariwise, flames wasted not the flesh of perishable creatures that walked among them; Neither melted they the ice-like grains of ambrosial food, that were of nature apt to melt.

22For in all things, O Lord, you did magnify your people, And you did glorify them and not lightly regard them; Standing by their side in every time and place.