Wisdom of Solomon · Clementine Vulgate
Wisdom of Solomon 3 Clementine Vulgate
1 [Justorum autem animæ in manu Dei sunt, et non tangent illos tormentum mortis.
1 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will touch them.
2 Visi sunt oculis insipientium mori, et æstimata est afflictio exitus illorum,
2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died. Their departure was considered a disaster,
3 et quod a nobis est iter exterminium; illi autem sunt in pace:
3 and their travel away from us ruin, but they are in peace.
4 etsi coram hominibus tormenta passi sunt, spes illorum immortalitate plena est.
4 For even if in the sight of men they are punished, their hope is full of immortality.
5 In paucis vexati sunt, in multis bene disponentur, quoniam Deus tentavit eos, et invenit illos dignos se.
5 Having borne a little chastening, they will receive great good; because God tested them, and found them worthy of himself.
6 Tamquam aurum in fornace probavit illos, et quasi holocausti hostiam accepit illos, et in tempore erit respectus illorum.
6 He tested them like gold in the furnace, and he accepted them as a whole burnt offering.
7 Fulgebunt justi et tamquam scintillæ in arundineto discurrent.
7 In the time of their visitation they will shine. They will run back and forth like sparks among stubble.
8 Judicabunt nationes, et dominabuntur populis, et regnabit Dominus illorum in perpetuum.
8 They will judge nations and have dominion over peoples. The Lord will reign over them forever.
9 Qui confidunt in illo intelligent veritatem, et fideles in dilectione acquiescent illi, quoniam donum et pax est electis ejus.
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 Impii autem secundum quæ cogitaverunt correptionem habebunt: qui neglexerunt justum, et a Domino recesserunt.
10 But the ungodly will be punished even as their reasoning deserves, those who neglected righteousness and revolted from the Lord;
11 Sapientiam enim et disciplinam qui abjicit infelix est: et vacua est spes illorum, et labores sine fructu, et inutilia opera eorum.
11 for he who despises wisdom and discipline is miserable. Their hope is void and their toils unprofitable. Their works are useless.
12 Mulieres eorum insensatæ sunt, et nequissimi filii eorum.
12 Their wives are foolish and their children are wicked.
13 Maledicta creatura eorum, quoniam felix est sterilis; et incoinquinata, quæ nescivit thorum in delicto, habebit fructum in respectione animarum sanctarum;
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 et spado qui non operatus est per manus suas iniquitatem, nec cogitavit adversus Deum nequissima: dabitur enim illi fidei donum electum, et sors in templo Dei acceptissima.
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 Bonorum enim laborum gloriosus est fructus, et quæ non concidat radix sapientiæ.
15 For good labors have fruit of great renown. The root of understanding can’t fail.
16 Filii autem adulterorum in inconsummatione erunt, et ab iniquo thoro semen exterminabitur.
16 But children of adulterers will not come to maturity. The seed of an unlawful union will vanish away.
17 Et si quidem longæ vitæ erunt, in nihilum computabuntur, et sine honore erit novissima senectus illorum:
17 For if they live long, they will not be esteemed, and in the end, their old age will be without honor.
18 et si celerius defuncti fuerint, non habebunt spem, nec in die agnitionis allocutionem.
18 If they die young, they will have no hope, nor consolation in the day of judgment.
19 Nationis enim iniquæ diræ sunt consummationes.]
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)