Wisdom of Solomon · Brenton's Greek Septuagint
Wisdom of Solomon 5 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 Τότε στήσεται ἐν παῤῥησίᾳ πολλῇ ὁ δίκαιος κατὰ πρόσωπον τῶν θλιψάντων αὐτὸν, καὶ τῶν ἀθετούντων τοὺς πόνους αὐτοῦ.
1 Then the righteous man will stand in great boldness before the face of those who afflicted him, and those who make his labors of no account.
2 Ἰδόντες ταραχθήσονται φόβῳ δεινῷ καὶ ἐκστήσονται ἐπὶ τῷ παραδόξῳ τῆς σωτηρίας.
2 When they see him, they will be troubled with terrible fear, and will be amazed at the marvel of salvation.
3 Ἐροῦσιν ἑαυτοῖς μετανοοῦντες, καὶ διὰ στενοχωρίαν πνεύματος στενάζοντες, Οὗτος ἦν ὃν ἔσχομέν ποτε εἰς γέλωτα καὶ εἰς παραβολὴν ὀνειδισμοῦ.
3 They will speak among themselves repenting, and for distress of spirit they will groan, “This was he whom we used to hold in derision, as a parable of reproach.
4 Οἱ ἄφρονες τὸν βίον αὐτοῦ ἐλογισάμεθα μανίαν, καὶ τὴν τελευτὴν αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον.
4 We fools considered his life madness, and his end without honor.
5 Πῶς κατελογίσθη ἐν υἱοῖς Θεοῦ, καὶ ἐν ἁγίοις ὁ κλῆρος αὐτοῦ ἐστιν;
5 How was he counted among sons of God? How is his lot among saints?
6 Ἄρα ἐπλανήθημεν ἀπὸ ὁδοῦ ἀληθείας, καὶ τὸ τῆς δικαιοσύνης φῶς οὐκ ἔλαμψεν ἡμῖν, καὶ ὁ ἥλιος οὐκ ἀνέτειλεν ἡμῖν.
6 Truly we went astray from the way of truth. The light of righteousness didn’t shine for us. The sun didn’t rise for us.
7 Ἀνομίας ἐνεπλήσθημεν τρίβοις καὶ ἀπωλείας, καὶ διωδεύσαμεν ἐρήμους ἀβάτους, τὴν δὲ ὁδὸν Κυρίου οὐκ ἔγνωμεν.
7 We took our fill of the paths of lawlessness and destruction. We traveled through trackless deserts, but we didn’t know the Lord’s way.
8 Τί ὠφέλησεν ἡμᾶς ἡ ὑπερηφανία; καὶ τὶ πλοῦτος μετὰ ἀλαζονείας συμβέβληται ἡμῖν;
8 What did our arrogance profit us? What good have riches and boasting brought us?
9 Παρῆλθεν ἐκεῖνα πάντα ὡς σκιὰ, καὶ ὡς ἀγγελία παρατρέχουσα·
9 Those things all passed away as a shadow, like a rumor that runs by,
10 ὡς ναῦς δειρχομενη κυμαινόμενον ὕδωρ, ἧς διαβάσης οὐκ ἔστιν ἴχνος εὑρεῖν, οὐδὲ ἀτραπὸν τρόπιος αὐτῆς ἐν κύμασιν·
10 like a ship passing through the billowy water, which, when it has gone by, there is no trace to be found, no pathway of its keel in the waves.
11 ἢ ὡς ὀρνέου διϊπτάντος ἀέρα, οὐθὲν εὑρίσκεται τεκμήριον πορείας, πληγῇ δὲ ταρσῶν μαστιζόμενον πνεῦμα κοῦφον καὶ σχιζόμενον βίᾳ ῥοιζου, κινουμένων πτερύγων διωδεύθη, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο οὐχ εὑρέθη σημεῖον ἐπιβάσεως ἐν αὐτῷ·
11 Or it is like when a bird flies through the air, no evidence of its passage is found, but the light wind, lashed with the stroke of its pinions, and torn apart with the violent rush of the moving wings, is passed through. Afterwards no sign of its coming remains.
12 ἢ ὡς βέλους βληθέντος ἐπὶ σκοπὸν, τμηθεὶς ὁ ἀὴρ εὐθέως εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἀνελύθη, ὡς ἀγνοῆσαι τὴν δίοδον αὐτοῦ·
12 Or it is like when an arrow is shot at a mark, the air it divided closes up again immediately, so that men don’t know where it passed through.
13 οὕτως καὶ ἡμεῖς γεννηθέντες ἐξελίπομεν· καὶ ἀρετῆς μὲν σημεῖον οὐδὲν ἔσχομεν δεῖξαι, ἐν δὲ τῇ κακίᾳ ἡμῶν κατεδαπανήθημεν.
13 So we also, as soon as we were born, ceased to be; and we had no sign of virtue to show, but we were utterly consumed in our wickedness.”
14 Ὅτι ἐλπὶς ἀσεβοῦς ὡς φερόμενος χοῦς ὑπὸ ἀνέμου, καὶ ὡς πάχνη ὑπὸ λαίλαπος διωχθεῖσα λεπτὴ, καὶ ὡς καπνὸς ὑπὸ ἀνέμου διεχύθη, καὶ ὡς μνεία καταλύτου μονοημέρου παρώδευσε.
14 Because the hope of the ungodly man is like chaff carried by the wind, and as foam vanishing before a tempest; and is scattered like smoke by the wind, and passes by as the remembrance of a guest who stays just a day.
15 Δίκαιοι δὲ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ζῶσι, καὶ ἐν Κυρίῳ ὁ μισθὸς αὐτῶν, καὶ ἡ φροντὶς αὐτῶν παρὰ ὑψίστῳ.
15 But the righteous live forever. Their reward is in the Lord, and the care for them with the Most High.
16 Διὰ τοῦτο λήψονται τὸ βασίλειον τῆς εὐπρεπείας, καὶ τὸ διάδημα τοῦ κάλλους ἐκ χειρὸς Κυρίου, ὅτι τῇ δεξιᾷ σκεπάσει αὐτούς, καὶ τῷ βραχίονι ὑπερασπιεῖ αὐτῶν.
16 Therefore they will receive the crown of royal dignity and the diadem of beauty from the Lord’s hand, because he will cover them with his right hand, and he will shield them with his arm.
17 Λήψεται πανοπλίαν τὸν ζῆλον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὁπλοποιήσει τὴν κτίσιν εἰς ἄμυναν ἐχθρῶν.
17 He will take his zeal as complete armor, and will make the whole creation his weapons to punish his enemies:
18 Ἐνδύσεται θώρακα δικαιοσύνην, καὶ περιθήσεται κόρυθα κρίσιν ἀνυπόκριτον.
18 He will put on righteousness as a breastplate, and will wear impartial judgment as a helmet.
19 Λήψεται ἀσπίδα ἀκαταμάχητον ὁσιότητα,
19 He will take holiness as an invincible shield.
20 ὀξυνεῖ δὲ ἀπότομον ὀργὴν εἰς ῥομφαίαν, συνεκπολεμήσει δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ κόσμος ἐπὶ τοὺς παράφρονας.
20 He will sharpen stern wrath for a sword. The universe will go with him to fight against his frenzied foes.
21 Πορεύσονται εὔστοχοι βολίδες ἀστραπῶν, καὶ ὡς ἀπὸ εὐκύκλου τόξου τῶν νεφῶν ἐπὶ σκοπὸν ἁλοῦνται.
21 Shafts of lightning will fly with true aim. They will leap to the mark from the clouds, as from a well-drawn bow.
22 Καὶ ἐκ πετροβόλου θυμοῦ πλήρεις ῥιφήσονται χάλαζαι· ἀγανακτήσει κατʼ αὐτῶν ὕδωρ θαλάσσης, ποταμοὶ δὲ συγκλύσουσιν ἀποτόμως.
22 Hailstones full of wrath will be hurled as from a catapult. The water of the sea will be angered against them. Rivers will sternly overwhelm them.
23 Ἀντιστήσεται αὐτοῖς πνεῦμα δυνάμεως, καὶ ὡς λαίλαψ ἐκλικμήσει αὐτούς· καὶ ἐρημώσει πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἀνομία, καὶ ἡ κακοπραγία περιτρέψει θρόνους δυναστῶν.
23 A mighty wind will encounter them. It will winnow them away like a tempest. So lawlessness will make all the land desolate. Their evil-doing will overturn the thrones of princes.
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).
For it is the expression of those who lose what they have wrought, that text which says, "What hath pride profited us, or what good hath riches with our vaunting brought us? All those things are passed away like a shadow." "The seed of the wicked," then, "shall be cut off."
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
If He is not to show, who will they be that are to say, "What hath profited us pride, and what hath boasting of riches bestowed upon us?" For then shall they know, that now will not know.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
Therefore we have strayed from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness hath not shone to us, and the sun hath not risen to us."...
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)