| 1 But the souls of the upright are in the hands of God, and no torment can touch them. |
| 2 To the unenlightened, they appeared to die, their departure was regarded as disaster, |
| 3 their leaving us like annihilation; but they are at peace. |
| 4 If, as it seemed to us, they suffered punishment, their hope was rich with 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; |
| 6 he has tested them like gold in a furnace, and accepted them as a perfect burnt offering. |
| 7 At their time of visitation, they wil shine out; as sparks run through the stubble, so will they. |
| 8 They wil judge nations, rule over peoples, and the Lord wil be their king 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. |
| 10 But the godless wil be duly punished for their reasoning, for having neglected the upright and desertedthe Lord. |
| 11 Yes, wretched are they who scorn wisdom and discipline: their hope is void, their toil unavailing, theirachievements unprofitable; |
| 12 their wives are reckless, their children depraved, their descendants 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. |
| 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. |
| 15 For the fruit of honest labours is glorious, and the root of understanding does not decay. |
| 16 But the children of adulterers wil not reach maturity, the offspring of an unlawful bed wil disappear. |
| 17 Even if they live long, they wil count for nothing, their old age wil go unhonoured at the last; |
| 18 while if they die early, they have neither hope nor comfort on the day of judgement, |
| 19 for the end of a race of evil-doers is harsh. |