Wisdom 5

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

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

3They will say within themselves repenting, And for distress of spirit will 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 forever, And in the Lord is their reward, And the care for them with the Most High.

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

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

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

19He will take holiness as an invincible shield,

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

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

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

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