Wisdom of Solomon 2 — DRA
2Verse 1For they have said, reasoning with themselves, but not right: The time of our life is short and tedious, and in the end of a man there is no remedy, and no man hath been known to have returned from hell:Verse 2For we are born of nothing, and after this we shall be as if we had not been: for the breath in our nostrils is smoke: and speech a spark to move our heart,Verse 3Which being put out, our body shall be ashes, and our spirit shall be poured abroad as soft air, and our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud, and shall be dispersed as a mist, which is driven away by the beams of the sun, and overpowered with the heat thereof:Verse 4And our name in time shall be forgotten, and no man shall have any remembrance of our works.Verse 5For our time is as the passing of a shadow, and there is no going back of our end: for it is fast sealed, and no man returneth.Verse 6Come therefore, and let us enjoy the good things that are present, and let us speedily use the creatures as in youth.Verse 7Let us fill ourselves with costly wine, and ointments: and let not the flower of the time pass by us.Verse 8Let us crown ourselves with roses, before they be withered: let no meadow escape our riot.Verse 9Let none of us go without his part in luxury: let us everywhere leave tokens of joy: for this is our portion, and this our lot.Verse 10Let us oppress the poor just man, and not spare the widow, nor honour the ancient grey hairs of the aged.Verse 11But let our strength be the law of justice: for that which is feeble, is found to be nothing worth.Verse 12Let us therefore lie in wait for the just, because he is not for our turn, and he is contrary to our doings, and upbraideth us with transgressions of the law, and divulgeth against us the sins of our way of life.Verse 13He boasteth that he hath the knowledge of God, and calleth himself the son of God.Verse 14He is become a censurer of our thoughts.Verse 15He is grievous unto us, even to behold: for his life is not like other men’s, and his ways are very different.Verse 16We are esteemed by him as triflers, and he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness, and he preferreth the latter end of the just, and glorieth that he hath God for his father.Verse 17Let us see then if his words be true, and let us prove what shall happen to him, and we shall know what his end shall be.Verse 18For if he be the true son of God, he will defend him, and will deliver him from the hands of his enemies.Verse 19Let us examine him by outrages and tortures, that we may know his meekness and try his patience.Verse 20Let us condemn him to a most shameful death: for there shall be respect had unto him by his words.Verse 21These things they thought, and were deceived: for their own malice blinded them.Verse 22And they knew not the secrets of God, nor hoped for the wages of justice, nor esteemed the honour of holy souls.Verse 23For God created man incorruptible, and to the image of his own likeness he made him.Verse 24But by the envy of the devil, death came into the world:Verse 25And they follow him that are of his side.