Wisdom of Solomon

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

² In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died. Their departure was considered a disaster,

³ and their travel away from us ruin, but they are in peace.

⁴ For even if in the sight of men they are punished, their hope is full of immortality.

⁵ Having borne a little chastening, they will receive great good; because God tested them, and found them worthy of himself.

⁶ He tested them like gold in the furnace, and he accepted them as a whole burnt offering.

⁷ In the time of their visitation they will shine. They will run back and forth like sparks among stubble.

⁸ They will judge nations and have dominion over peoples. The Lord will reign over them forever.

⁹ Those who trust him will understand truth. The faithful will live with him in love, because grace and mercy are with his chosen ones.

¹⁰ But the ungodly will be punished even as their reasoning deserves, those who neglected righteousness and revolted from the Lord;

¹¹ for he who despises wisdom and discipline is miserable. Their hope is void and their toils unprofitable. 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 labors 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 honor.

¹⁸ If they die young, they will have no hope, nor consolation in the day of judgment.

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