Wisdom 3

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
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 no torment of death will touch them.
2 To the unenlightened, they appeared to die, their departure was regarded as disaster,	2 In the eyes of the foolish, they seemed to die, and their departure was considered an affliction,
3 their leaving us like annihilation; but they are at peace.	3 and their going away from us, a banishment. Yet 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 Troubled in few things, in many things they will be well compensated, because God has tested 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 Like gold in the furnace, he has proved them, and as a holocaust victim, he has received them, and in the time of their visitation
7 At their time of visitation, they wil shine out; as sparks run through the stubble, so will they.	7 they will shine, and they will dash about like sparks among stubble.
8 They wil judge nations, rule over peoples, and the Lord wil be their king for ever.	8 They will judge the nations and they will rule over the people, and their Lord will reign forever.
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 Those who trust in him, will understand the truth, and those who are faithful in love will rest in him, because grace and peace is for his elect.
10 But the godless wil be duly punished for their reasoning, for having neglected the upright and desertedthe Lord.	10 But the impious will be chastised according to their thoughts, for they have neglected the just and have retreated from the Lord.
11 Yes, wretched are they who scorn wisdom and discipline: their hope is void, their toil unavailing, theirachievements unprofitable;	11 For whoever abandons wisdom and instruction is unhappy, and their hope is empty, and their labors without fruit, and their works useless.
12 their wives are reckless, their children depraved, their descendants accursed.	12 Their wives are foolish and their sons are wicked; the things that serve them are accursed.
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 Therefore, fertile is the barren and undefiled, who has not known transgressions in bed; she will bear fruit by caring for 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 fertile is the celibate, who has not wrought iniquity with his hands, nor thought wickedness against God; for to him will be given a special gift of faith and a very welcome place in the temple of the Lord.
15 For the fruit of honest labours is glorious, and the root of understanding does not decay.	15 For the fruit of good labors is glorious and the root of wisdom shall never perish.
16 But the children of adulterers wil not reach maturity, the offspring of an unlawful bed wil disappear.	16 But the sons of adulterers will not reach completion, and the offspring of a sinful bed will be banished.
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 will be counted as nothing, and their last years of old-age will be without honor.
18 while if they die early, they have neither hope nor comfort on the day of judgement,	18 And if they die quickly, they will have no hope, nor words of comfort on the day of reckoning.
19 for the end of a race of evil-doers is harsh.	19 For the iniquities of the people have a dreadful result.