Wisdom 12

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	KING JAMES BIBLE
1 O how good and gracious, Lord, is your spirit in all things!	1 For thine incorruptible Spirit is in all things.
2 Therefore, those who wander afield, you correct, and, as to those who sin, you counsel them and admonish them, so that, having abandoned malice, they may believe in you, O Lord.	2 Therefore chastenest thou them by little and little that offend, and warnest them by putting them in remembrance wherein they have offended, that leaving their wickedness they may believe on thee, O Lord.
3 For those ancient inhabitants of your holy land, who you abhorred,	3 For it was thy will to destroy by the hands of our fathers both those old inhabitants of thy holy land,
4 because they were doing works hateful to you, through unjust medicines and sacrifices,	4 Whom thou hatedst for doing most odious works of witchcrafts, and wicked sacrifices;
5 and the merciless murderers of their own sons, and the eaters of human entrails, and the devourers of blood apart from your community sacrament,	5 And also those merciless murderers of children, and devourers of man's flesh, and the feasts of blood,
6 and the sellers performing the ceremonies of helpless souls, you willed to destroy by the hands of our parents,	6 With their priests out of the midst of their idolatrous crew, and the parents, that killed with their own hands souls destitute of help:
7 so that they might worthily secure the sojourn of the children of God, in the land which is most beloved by you.	7 That the land, which thou esteemedst above all other, might receive a worthy colony of God's children.
8 Yet, so that you were lenient even to these men, you sent wasps, forerunners of your army, so that you might destroy them little by little,	8 Nevertheless even those thou sparedst as men, and didst send wasps, forerunners of thine host, to destroy them by little and little.
9 not because you were unable to subdue the impious under the just by war or by cruel beasts, or with a harsh word to exterminate them at once,	9 Not that thou wast unable to bring the ungodly under the hand of the righteous in battle, or to destroy them at once with cruel beasts, or with one rough word:
10 but, in judging by degrees, you were giving them a place of repentance, not unaware that their nation is wicked, and their malice is inherent, and that their thinking could never be changed.	10 But executing thy judgments upon them by little and little, thou gavest them place of repentance, not being ignorant that they were a naughty generation, and that their malice was bred in them, and that their cogitation would never be changed.
11 For this offspring was accursed from the beginning. Neither did you, fearing anyone, give favor to their sins.	11 For it was a cursed seed from the beginning; neither didst thou for fear of any man give them pardon for those things wherein they sinned.
12 For who will say to you, “What have you done?” Or who will stand against your judgment? Or who will come before you as a defender of unfair men? Or who will accuse you, if the nations perish, which you have made?	12 For who shall say, What hast thou done? or who shall withstand thy judgment? or who shall accuse thee for the nations that perish, whom thou made? or who shall come to stand against thee, to be revenged for the unrighteous men?
13 For neither is there any other God but you, who has care of all, to whom you would show that you did not give judgment unjustly.	13 For neither is there any God but thou that careth for all, to whom thou mightest shew that thy judgment is not unright.
14 Neither will king or tyrant inquire before you about those whom you destroyed.	14 Neither shall king or tyrant be able to set his face against thee for any whom thou hast punished.
15 Therefore, since you are just, you order all things justly, considering it foreign to your virtue to condemn him who does not deserve to be punished.	15 Forsomuch then as thou art righteous thyself, thou orderest all things righteously: thinking it not agreeable with thy power to condemn him that hath not deserved to be punished.
16 For your power is the beginning of justice, and, because you are Lord of all, you make yourself to be lenient to all.	16 For thy power is the beginning of righteousness, and because thou art the Lord of all, it maketh thee to be gracious unto all.
17 For you reveal power to those who do not believe you to be perfect in power, and you expose the arrogance of those who do not know you.	17 For when men will not believe that thou art of a full power, thou shewest thy strength, and among them that know it thou makest their boldness manifest.
18 Yet, you are the master of power, since you judge with tranquility, and since you administer us with great reverence; for it is close to you to be used whenever you will.	18 But thou, mastering thy power, judgest with equity, and orderest us with great favour: for thou mayest use power when thou wilt.
19 But you have taught your people, through such works, that they must be just and humane, and you have made your sons to be of good hope, because in judging you provide a place for repentance from sins.	19 But by such works hast thou taught thy people that the just man should be merciful, and hast made thy children to be of a good hope that thou givest repentance for sins.
20 For even if the enemies of your servants were deserving of death, you afflicted them with great attentiveness, providing a time and a place whereby they would be able to be changed from malice;	20 For if thou didst punish the enemies of thy children, and the condemned to death, with such deliberation, giving them time and place, whereby they might be delivered from their malice:
21 with what diligence, then, have you judged your sons, whose parents you have given oaths and covenants in good faith!	21 With how great circumspection didst thou judge thine own sons, unto whose fathers thou hast sworn, and made covenants of good promises?
22 Therefore, while you give us discipline, you give our enemies a multiplicity of scourges, so that in judging we may think on your goodness, and when we are judged, we may hope for mercy.	22 Therefore, whereas thou dost chasten us, thou scourgest our enemies a thousand times more, to the intent that, when we judge, we should carefully think of thy goodness, and when we ourselves are judged, we should look for mercy.
23 Therefore, also to these, who have lived their lived their life irrationally and unjustly, through these things that they worshiped, you gave the greatest torments.	23 Wherefore, whereas men have lived dissolutely and unrighteously, thou hast tormented them with their own abominations.
24 And, indeed, they wandered for a long time in the way of error, valuing those things as gods, which are worthless even among animals, living in foolish irrational behavior.	24 For they went astray very far in the ways of error, and held them for gods, which even among the beasts of their enemies were despised, being deceived, as children of no understanding.
25 Because of this, you have given a judgment in derision, as if from foolish children.	25 Therefore unto them, as to children without the use of reason, thou didst send a judgment to mock them.
26 But those who have not been corrected by mockery and chiding, have experienced a judgment worthy of God.	26 But they that would not be reformed by that correction, wherein he dallied with them, shall feel a judgment worthy of God.
27 For among those who were indignant at their sufferings, which came through those things that they reputed to be gods, when they saw that they would be destroyed by these same things, those who formerly refused knowledge of him, now acknowledged the true God, and, because of this, the end of their condemnation came upon them.	27 For, look, for what things they grudged, when they were punished, that is, for them whom they thought to be gods; [now] being punished in them, when they saw it, they acknowledged him to be the true God, whom before they denied to know: and therefore came extreme damnation upon them.