Wisdom of Solomon · Revised Version with Apocrypha
Wisdom of Solomon 3 Revised Version with Apocrypha
1 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, And no torment shall touch them.
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; And their departure was accounted [to be their ] hurt,
2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died. Their departure was considered a disaster,
3 And their journeying away from us [to be their ] ruin: But they are in peace.
3 and their travel away from us ruin, but they are in peace.
4 For even if in the sight of men they be punished, Their hope is full of immortality;
4 For even if in the sight of men they are punished, their hope is full of immortality.
5 And having borne a little chastening, they shall receive great good; Because God made trial of them, and found them worthy of himself.
5 Having borne a little chastening, they will receive great good; because God tested them, and found them worthy of himself.
6 As gold in the furnace he proved them, And as a whole burnt offering he accepted them.
6 He tested them like gold in the furnace, and he accepted them as a whole burnt offering.
7 And in the time of their visitation they shall shine forth, And as sparks among stubble they shall run to and fro.
7 In the time of their visitation they will shine. They will run back and forth like sparks among stubble.
8 They shall judge nations, and have dominion over peoples; And the Lord shall reign over them for evermore.
8 They will judge nations and have dominion over peoples. The Lord will reign over them forever.
9 They that trust on him shall understand truth, And the faithful shall abide with him in love; Because grace and mercy are to his chosen.
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 shall be requited even as they reasoned, They which lightly regarded the righteous [man, ] and revolted from the Lord;
10 But the ungodly will be punished even as their reasoning deserves, those who neglected righteousness and revolted from the Lord;
11 (For he that setteth at nought wisdom and discipline is miserable;) And void is their hope and their toils unprofitable, And useless are their works:
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 wicked are their children;
12 Their wives are foolish and their children are wicked.
13 Accursed is their begetting. Because happy is the barren that is undefiled, She who hath not conceived in transgression; She shall have fruit when [God ] visiteth souls.
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 And [happy is ] the eunuch which hath wrought no lawless deed with his hands, Nor imagined wicked things against the Lord; For there shall be given him for his faithfulness a peculiar favour, And a lot in the sanctuary of the Lord more delightsome [than wife or children. ]
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 labours have fruit of great renown; And the root of understanding cannot fail.
15 For good labors have fruit of great renown. The root of understanding can’t fail.
16 But children of adulterers shall not come to maturity, And the seed of an unlawful bed shall vanish away.
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 shall be held in no account, And at the last their old age shall be without honour.
17 For if they live long, they will not be esteemed, and in the end, their old age will be without honor.
18 And if they die quickly, they shall have no hope, Nor in the day of decision [shall they have ] consolation.
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 alway grievous.
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)