Wisdom of Solomon
5:1 Then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness before the face of
such as have afflicted him, and made no account of his labours.
5:2 When they see it, they shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall
be amazed at the strangeness of his salvation, so far beyond all that
they looked for.
5:3 And they repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit shall say within
themselves, This was he, whom we had sometimes in derision, and a
proverb of reproach:
5:4 We fools accounted his life madness, and his end to be without honour:
5:5 How is he numbered among the children of God, and his lot is among the
saints!
5:6 Therefore have we erred from the way of truth, and the light of
righteousness hath not shined unto us, and the sun of righteousness rose
not upon us.
5:7 We wearied ourselves in the way of wickedness and destruction: yea, we
have gone through deserts, where there lay no way: but as for the way of
the Lord, we have not known it.
5:8 What hath pride profited us? or what good hath riches with our vaunting
brought us?
5:9 All those things are passed away like a shadow, and as a post that
hasted by;
5:10 And as a ship that passeth over the waves of the water, which when it is
gone by, the trace thereof cannot be found, neither the pathway of the
keel in the waves;
5:11 Or as when a bird hath flown through the air, there is no token of her
way to be found, but the light air being beaten with the stroke of her
wings and parted with the violent noise and motion of them, is passed
through, and therein afterwards no sign where she went is to be found;
5:12 Or like as when an arrow is shot at a mark, it parteth the air, which
immediately cometh together again, so that a man cannot know where it
went through:
5:13 Even so we in like manner, as soon as we were born, began to draw to our
end, and had no sign of virtue to shew; but were consumed in our own
wickedness.
5:14 For the hope of the Godly is like dust that is blown away with the wind;
like a thin froth that is driven away with the storm; like as the smoke
which is dispersed here and there with a tempest, and passeth away as
the remembrance of a guest that tarrieth but a day.
5:15 But the righteous live for evermore; their reward also is with the Lord,
and the care of them is with the most High.
5:16 Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown
from the Lord's hand: for with his right hand shall he cover them, and
with his arm shall he protect them.
5:17 He shall take to him his jealousy for complete armour, and make the
creature his weapon for the revenge of his enemies.
5:18 He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate, and true judgment
instead of an helmet.
5:19 He shall take holiness for an invincible shield.
5:20 His severe wrath shall he sharpen for a sword, and the world shall fight
with him against the unwise.
5:21 Then shall the right aiming thunderbolts go abroad; and from the clouds,
as from a well drawn bow, shall they fly to the mark.
5:22 And hailstones full of wrath shall be cast as out of a stone bow, and
the water of the sea shall rage against them, and the floods shall
cruelly drown them.
5:23 Yea, a mighty wind shall stand up against them, and like a storm shall
blow them away: thus iniquity shall lay waste the whole earth, and ill
dealing shall overthrow the thrones of the mighty.
