Wisdom of Solomon · Brenton's Greek Septuagint
Wisdom of Solomon 3 Brenton's Greek Septuagint
Notes on this text (1)
- Ezra and Nehemiah form one book (2 Esdras) in this edition; the reader shows them as Ezra 1–10 and Nehemiah 1–13.
1 Δίκαιων δὲ ψυχαὶ ἐν χειρὶ Θεοῦ, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἅψηται αὐτῶν βάσανος.
1 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will touch them.
2 Ἔδοξαν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἀφρόνων τεθνάναι,
2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died. Their departure was considered a disaster,
3 καὶ ἐλογίσθη κάκωσις ἡ ἔξοδος αὐτῶν, καὶ ἡ ἀφʼ ἡμῶν πορεία σύντριμμα· οἱ δὲ εἰσιν ἐν εἰρήνῃ·
3 and their travel away from us ruin, but they are in peace.
4 Καὶ γὰρ ἐν ὄψει ἀνθρώπων ἐὰν κολασθῶσιν, ἡ ἐλπὶς αὐτῶν ἀθανασίας πλήρης.
4 For even if in the sight of men they are punished, their hope is full of immortality.
5 Καὶ ὀλίγα παιδευθέντες μεγάλα εὐεργετηθήσονται, ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἐπείρασεν αὐτοὺς, καὶ εὗρεν αὐτοὺς ἀξίους ἑαυτοῦ.
5 Having borne a little chastening, they will receive great good; because God tested them, and found them worthy of himself.
6 Ὡς χρυσὸν ἐν χωνευτηρίῳ ἐδοκίμασεν αὐτούς, καὶ ὡς ὁλοκάρπωμα θυσίας προσεδέξατο αὐτούς.
6 He tested them like gold in the furnace, and he accepted them as a whole burnt offering.
7 Καὶ ἐν καιρῷ ἐπισκοπῆς αὐτῶν ἀναλάμψουσι, καὶ ὡς σπινθῆρες ἐν καλάμῃ διαδραμοῦνται.
7 In the time of their visitation they will shine. They will run back and forth like sparks among stubble.
8 Κρινοῦσιν ἔθνη καὶ κρατήσουσι λαῶν, καὶ βασιλεύσει αὐτῶν Κύριος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας.
8 They will judge nations and have dominion over peoples. The Lord will reign over them forever.
9 Οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπʼ αὐτῷ συνήσουσιν ἀλήθειαν, καὶ οἱ πιστοὶ ἐν ἀγάπῃ προσμενοῦσιν αὐτῷ, ὅτι χάρις καὶ ἔλεος τοῖς ἐκλεκτοῖς αὐτοῦ.
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 Οἱ δὲ ἀσεβεῖς καθὰ ἐλογίσαντο ἕξουσιν ἐπιτιμίαν, οἱ ἀμελήσαντες τοῦ δικαίου καὶ τοῦ Κυρίου ἀποστάντες.
10 But the ungodly will be punished even as their reasoning deserves, those who neglected righteousness and revolted from the Lord;
11 Σοφίαν γὰρ καὶ παιδείαν ὁ ἐξουθενῶν ταλαίπωρος, καὶ κενὴ ἡ ἐλπὶς αὐτῶν, καὶ οἱ κόποι ἀνόνητοι, καὶ ἄχρηστα τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν.
11 for he who despises wisdom and discipline is miserable. Their hope is void and their toils unprofitable. Their works are useless.
12 Αἱ γυναῖκες αὐτῶν ἄφρονες, καὶ πονηρὰ τὰ τέκνα αὐτῶν.
12 Their wives are foolish and their children are wicked.
13 Ἐπικατάρατος ἡ γένεσις αὐτῶν, ὅτι μακαρία στεῖρα ἡ ἀμίαντος, ἥτις οὐκ ἔγνω κοίτης ἐν παραπτώματι, ἕξει καρπὸν ἐν ἐπισκοπῇ ψυχῶν.
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 Καὶ εὐνοῦχος ὁ μὴ ἐργασάμενος ἐν χειρὶ ἀνόμημα, μηδὲ ἐνθυμηθεὶς κατὰ τοῦ Κυρίου πονηρά· δοθήσεται γὰρ αὐτῷ τῆς πίστεως χάρις ἐκλεκτὴ, καὶ κλῆρος ἐν ναῷ Κυρίου θυμηρέστερος·
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 Ἀγαθῶν γὰρ πόνων καρπὸς εὐκλεὴς, καὶ ἀδιάπτωτος ἡ ῥίζα τῆς φρονήσεως.
15 For good labors have fruit of great renown. The root of understanding can’t fail.
16 Τέκνα δὲ μοιχῶν ἀτέλεστα ἔσται, καὶ ἐκ παρανόμου κοίτης σπέρμα ἀφανισθήσεται.
16 But children of adulterers will not come to maturity. The seed of an unlawful union will vanish away.
17 Ἐάν τε γὰρ μακρόβιοι γένωνται, εἰς οὐθὲν λογισθήσονται, καὶ ἄτιμον ἐπʼ ἐσχάτον τὸ γῆρας αὐτῶν.
17 For if they live long, they will not be esteemed, and in the end, their old age will be without honor.
18 Ἐάν τε ὀξέως τελευτήσωσιν, οὐχ ἕχουσιν ἐλπίδα, οὐδὲ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ διαγνώσεως παραμύθιον·
18 If they die young, they will have no hope, nor consolation in the day of judgment.
19 γενεᾶς γὰρ ἀδίκου χαλεπὰ τὰ τέλη.
19 For the end of an unrighteous generation is always grievous.
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Ye have read and heard, "As gold in the furnace hath He tried them, and received them as a burnt-offering." See what ye shall be among the treasures of God.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)
For "the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God;" and if of the righteous, then those children's souls also; for neither are they wicked: and the souls too of sinners are straightway led away hence.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
The divine Scripture likewise saith that the souls of the just are in God's hand and death cannot lay hold of them.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 9 (1899)
Truly when the Scripture was speaking of persecution, it said, "Like gold in a furnace it hath proved them" (speaking of Martyrs being slain), "and as the holocaust's victim it hath received them." Hear how even the tongue of flatterers is of such sort: "The proving," he saith, "of silver and of gold is fire; but a man is proved …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
… to those who sleep in the tomb, whom God hath not yet remembered: since the righteous are among the latter, of whom, even though God hath not yet called them to the resurrection, it is said, that their "souls are in the hands of God," that is, that "they dwell under the defence of the Most High; and shall abide …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)