Wisdom 3

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 But the souls of the upright are in the hands of God, and no torment can touch them.	1 But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them.
2 To the unenlightened, they appeared to die, their departure was regarded as disaster,	2 In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure was taken for misery:
3 their leaving us like annihilation; but they are at peace.	3 And their going away from us, for utter destruction: but they are in peace.
4 If, as it seemed to us, they suffered punishment, their hope was rich with immortality;	4 And though in the sight of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality.
5 slight was their correction, great wil their blessings be. God was putting them to the test and has provedthem worthy to be with him;	5 Afflicted in few things, in many they shall be well rewarded: because God hath tried them, and found them worthy of himself.
6 he has tested them like gold in a furnace, and accepted them as a perfect burnt offering.	6 As gold in the furnace he hath proved them, and as a victim of a holocaust he hath received them, and in time there shall be respect had to them.
7 At their time of visitation, they wil shine out; as sparks run through the stubble, so will they.	7 The just shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds.
8 They wil judge nations, rule over peoples, and the Lord wil be their king for ever.	8 They shall judge nations, and rule over people, and their Lord shall reign for ever.
9 Those who trust in him wil understand the truth, those who are faithful wil live with him in love; forgrace and mercy await his holy ones, and he intervenes on behalf of his chosen.	9 They that trust in him, shall understand the truth: and they that are faithful in love shall rest in him: for grace and peace is to his elect.
10 But the godless wil be duly punished for their reasoning, for having neglected the upright and desertedthe Lord.	10 But the wicked shall be punished according to their own devices: who have neglected the just, and have revolted from the Lord.
11 Yes, wretched are they who scorn wisdom and discipline: their hope is void, their toil unavailing, theirachievements unprofitable;	11 For he that rejecteth wisdom, and discipline, is unhappy: and their hope is vain, and their labours without fruit, and their works unprofitable.
12 their wives are reckless, their children depraved, their descendants accursed.	12 Their wives are foolish, and their children wicked.
13 Blessed the sterile woman if she be blameless, and has not known an unlawful bed, for she wil havefruit at the visitation of souls.	13 Their offspring is cursed: for happy is the barren: and the undefiled, that hath not known bed in sin: she shall have fruit in the visitation of holy souls.
14 Blessed, too, the eunuch whose hand commits no crime, and who harbours no resentment against theLord: a special favour will be granted to him for his loyalty, a most desirable portion in the temple of the Lord.	14 And the eunuch, that hath not wrought iniquity with his hands, nor thought wicked things against God: for the precious gift of faith shall be given to him, and a most acceptable lot in the temple of God.
15 For the fruit of honest labours is glorious, and the root of understanding does not decay.	15 For the fruit of good labours is glorious, and the root of wisdom never faileth.
16 But the children of adulterers wil not reach maturity, the offspring of an unlawful bed wil disappear.	16 But the children of adulterers shall not come to perfection, and the seed of the unlawful bed shall be rooted out.
17 Even if they live long, they wil count for nothing, their old age wil go unhonoured at the last;	17 And if they live long, they shall be nothing regarded, and their last old age shall be without honour.
18 while if they die early, they have neither hope nor comfort on the day of judgement,	18 And if they die quickly, they shall have no hope, nor speech of comfort in the day of trial.
19 for the end of a race of evil-doers is harsh.	19 For dreadful are the ends of a wicked race.