Wisdom 2:3-3:9

New Catholic Bible

³ Once it is extinguished, our body will turn to ashes,
    and our spirit will melt away like empty air.
⁴ Our name will be forgotten with the passing of time,
    and no one will remember our deeds.
Our life will pass away like the wisps of a cloud
    and be scattered like mist
pursued by the rays of the sun
    and overwhelmed by its heat.
⁵ For our lifetime is but a passing shadow,
    and there is no way to recall our end
    because it is sealed, and no one can bring it back.

⁶ “Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things of life,
    and use creation fully, with youthful ardor.
⁷ Let us take our fill of expensive wine and perfumes
    and allow no flower of spring to escape our notice;
⁸     let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.^[a]
9 Let none of us fail to share in our wanton doings;
    let us leave traces of our revelry everywhere,
    since this is our portion, this our lot.

¹⁰ “Let us oppress the righteous man who is in need;^[c]
    let us not spare the widow
    or show respect for the venerable gray head of the aged.
¹¹ Rather, let our might serve as the yardstick of justice,
    for what is feeble has proved itself useless.
¹² Let us wait in hiding for the righteous man,
    for he inconveniences us and opposes our deeds.
He reproaches us for our sins against the law
    and accuses us of failures in what we have been taught.
¹³ He claims to have knowledge of God
    and refers to himself as a child of the Lord.
¹⁴ He has become for us a reproof to our manner of thinking,
    and the very sight of him is a source of pain to us.
¹⁵ For his life is unlike that of others,
    and his ways are just as different.^[d]
16 He considers us to be counterfeit,
    and he steers clear of our ways as unclean.
He proclaims the final end of the righteous as blessed,
    and he boasts that God is his Father.
¹⁷ Let us see if what he says is true,
    and let us probe what will happen at the conclusion of his life.
¹⁸ For if the righteous man is a child of God,^[e] he will defend him
    and deliver him from the power of his enemies.
¹⁹ Let us test him with insults and torments
    so that we may be able to measure his gentleness
    and ascertain the depths of his forbearance of evil.
²⁰ Let us condemn him^[f] to a shameful death,
    since, according to his words, he will be protected.”

²¹ Such was their reasoning, but they were wrong,
    for their own malice blinded them.
²² They did not discern the hidden plans of God,
    or hope for the recompense of holiness
    or recognize the reward destined for innocent souls.
²³ For God created us to be immortal
    and formed us in the image of his own nature.^[h]
24 But as a result of the devil’s envy, death entered the world,
    and those who follow him experience it.

^{1     [k]}But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
    and no torment can overtake them.
² From the viewpoint of the foolish, they seemed to be dead,
    and their passing away was reckoned as a misfortune,
³     and their departure from us as their ruin.
But they are at peace.^[l]
4 Although in the eyes of others they were chastised,
    their hope is full of immortality.
⁵ Having endured a slight chastisement, they will receive great blessings,
    because God tested them
    and found them worthy to be with him.^[m]
6 He put them to the proof like gold in a furnace,
    and he accepted them as a sacrificial burnt offering.^[n]
7 In the time of their visitation^[o] they will shine brightly
    and spread like sparks among the stubble.
⁸ They will judge nations and have dominion over peoples,
    and the Lord will be their King forever.
⁹ Those who trust in him will understand truth,
    and the faithful will dwell with him in love,
because grace and mercy are reserved for his holy ones,
    and he shows concern for his elect.