Wisdom of Solomon · World English Bible British Edition (with Deuterocanon)
Wisdom of Solomon 2 World English Bible British Edition (with Deuterocanon)
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WEBBE World English Bible British Edition (with Deuterocanon)
WEB World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)
1 For they said within themselves, with unsound reasoning, “Our life is short and sorrowful. There is no healing when a man comes to his end, and no one was ever known who was released from Hades.
1 For they said within themselves, with unsound reasoning, “Our life is short and sorrowful. There is no healing when a man comes to his end, and no one was ever known who was released from Hades.
2 Because we were born by mere chance, and hereafter we will be as though we had never been, because the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our heart,
2 Because we were born by mere chance, and hereafter we will be as though we had never been, because the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our heart,
3 which being extinguished, the body will be turned into ashes, and the spirit will be dispersed as thin air.
3 which being extinguished, the body will be turned into ashes, and the spirit will be dispersed as thin air.
4 Our name will be forgotten in time. No one will remember our works. Our life will pass away as the traces of a cloud, and will be scattered as is a mist, when it is chased by the rays of the sun, and overcome by its heat.
4 Our name will be forgotten in time. No one will remember our works. Our life will pass away as the traces of a cloud, and will be scattered as is a mist, when it is chased by the rays of the sun, and overcome by its heat.
5 For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow, and our end doesn’t retreat, because it is securely sealed, and no one turns it back.
5 For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow, and our end doesn’t retreat, because it is securely sealed, and no one turns it back.
6 “Come therefore and let’s enjoy the good things that exist. Let’s use the creation earnestly as in our youth.
6 “Come therefore and let’s enjoy the good things that exist. Let’s use the creation earnestly as in our youth.
7 Let’s fill ourselves with costly wine and perfumes, and let no spring flower pass us by.
7 Let’s fill ourselves with costly wine and perfumes, and let no spring flower pass us by.
8 Let’s crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.
8 Let’s crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.
9 Let none of us go without his share in our proud revelry. Let’s leave tokens of mirth everywhere, because this is our portion, and this is our lot.
9 Let none of us go without his share in our proud revelry. Let’s leave tokens of mirth everywhere, because this is our portion, and this is our lot.
10 Let’s oppress the righteous poor. Let’s not spare the widow, nor regard the grey hair of the old man.
10 Let’s oppress the righteous poor. Let’s not spare the widow, nor regard the gray hair of the old man.
11 But let our strength be a law of righteousness; for that which is weak is proven useless.
11 But let our strength be a law of righteousness; for that which is weak is proven useless.
12 But let’s lie in wait for the righteous man, because he annoys us, is contrary to our works, reproaches us with sins against the law, and charges us with sins against our training.
12 But let’s lie in wait for the righteous man, because he annoys us, is contrary to our works, reproaches us with sins against the law, and charges us with sins against our training.
13 He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord.
13 He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord.
14 He became to us a reproof of our thoughts.
14 He became to us a reproof of our thoughts.
15 He is grievous to us even to look at, because his life is unlike other men’s, and his paths are strange.
15 He is grievous to us even to look at, because his life is unlike other men’s, and his paths are strange.
16 We were regarded by him as something worthless, and he abstains from our ways as from uncleanness. He calls the latter end of the righteous happy. He boasts that God is his father.
16 We were regarded by him as something worthless, and he abstains from our ways as from uncleanness. He calls the latter end of the righteous happy. He boasts that God is his father.
17 Let’s see if his words are true. Let’s test what will happen at the end of his life.
17 Let’s see if his words are true. Let’s test what will happen at the end of his life.
18 For if the righteous man is God’s son, he will uphold him, and he will deliver him out of the hand of his adversaries.
18 For if the righteous man is God’s son, he will uphold him, and he will deliver him out of the hand of his adversaries.
19 Let’s test him with insult and torture, that we may find out how gentle he is, and test his patience.
19 Let’s test him with insult and torture, that we may find out how gentle he is, and test his patience.
20 Let’s condemn him to a shameful death, for he will be protected, according to his words.”
20 Let’s condemn him to a shameful death, for he will be protected, according to his words.”
21 Thus they reasoned, and they were led astray; for their wickedness blinded them,
21 Thus they reasoned, and they were led astray; for their wickedness blinded them,
22 and they didn’t know the mysteries of God, neither did they hope for wages of holiness, nor did they discern that there is a prize for blameless souls.
22 and they didn’t know the mysteries of God, neither did they hope for wages of holiness, nor did they discern that there is a prize for blameless souls.
23 Because God created man for incorruption, and made him an image of his own everlastingness;
23 Because God created man for incorruption, and made him an image of his own everlastingness;
24 but death entered into the world by the envy of the devil, and those who belong to him experience it.
24 but death entered into the world by the envy of the devil, and those who belong to him experience it.
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).
… is become blind in His faith, neither walks in the ordinances of His appointment, nor acts a part becoming a Christian, but walks after his own wicked lusts, resuming the practice of an unrighteous and ungodly envy, by which death itself entered into the world. Chapter IV — Many evils have already flowed from this source in ancient times For …
For he says, what it was foretold in the book of Wisdom that he should say, "He is grievous unto us, even to behold; for his life is not like other men's." Therefore he "seeks to slay him." What?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
"Let us condemn Him with a most shameful death, for by His own sayings He shall be respected;" for if he is indeed the Son of God, He will deliver Him from the hands of His adversaries: He will not suffer His Son to die, if He is truly His Son.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
… saith, "Behold there cometh the Prince of the world," being an acute observer of all sins; "Behold," He saith, "there cometh the Prince of this world," with death afflicting sinners, presiding over death: for, "By the malice of the devil death came into the world." "Behold," He saith, "there cometh the Prince of the world:"--He said these words close upon …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)