Wisdom 2

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 For they have said, reasoning with themselves incorrectly: “Our lifetime is brief and tedious, and there is no relief within the limits of man, and no one is acknowledged to have returned from the dead.	1 For 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:
2 For we are born from nothing, and after this we will be as if we had not been, because the breath in our nostrils is like smoke, and conversation sends out sparks from the stirring of our heart;	2 For 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,
3 therefore, when it is extinguished, our body will be ashes, and our spirit will be diffused like a soft breeze, and our life will pass away like the wisp of a cloud, just as a mist is dissolved when it is driven away by the rays of the sun and overpowered by its heat.	3 Which 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:
4 And in time our name will surrender to oblivion, and no one will have remembrance of our works.	4 And our name in time shall be forgotten, and no man shall have any remembrance of our works.
5 For our time is like the passing of a shadow, and nothing can reverse our end, for it is signed and sealed, and cannot be returned.	5 For 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.
6 Therefore, hurry, let us enjoy the good things of the present time, and let us quickly use up passing things, just as in youth.	6 Come therefore, and let us enjoy the good things that are present, and let us speedily use the creatures as in youth.
7 Let us indulge ourselves with costly wine and ointments, and let no flower of youth pass us by.	7 Let us fill ourselves with costly wine, and ointments: and let not the flower of the time pass by us.
8 Let us surround ourselves with rosebuds before they wither; let no meadow be left untouched by our indulgence.	8 Let us crown ourselves with roses, before they be withered: let no meadow escape our riot.
9 Let no one among us be exempt from our indulgence. Let us leave behind tokens of enjoyment everywhere, for this is our portion, and this is fate.	9 Let 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.
10 Let us oppress the poor just man, and not spare the widow, nor respect the aged grey hairs of elders.	10 Let us oppress the poor just man, and not spare the widow, nor honour the ancient grey hairs of the aged.
11 But let our strength be the law of justice, for what is weak is found to be useless.	11 But let our strength be the law of justice: for that which is feeble, is found to be nothing worth.
12 Therefore, let us encircle the just, because he is useless to us, and he is against our works, and he reproaches us with our legal offenses, and makes known to us the sins of our way of life.	12 Let 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.
13 He promises that he has the knowledge of God and he calls himself the son of God.	13 He boasteth that he hath the knowledge of God, and calleth himself the son of God.
14 He was made among us to expose our very thoughts.	14 He is become a censurer of our thoughts.
15 He is grievous for us even to behold, for his life is unlike other men’s lives, and immutable are his ways.	15 He is grievous unto us, even to behold: for his life is not like other men's, and his ways are very different.
16 It is as if we are considered by him to be insignificant, and he abstains from our ways as from filth; he prefers the newly justified, and he glories that he has God for his father.	16 We 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.
17 Let us see, then, if his words are true, and let us test what will happen to him, and then we will know what his end will be.	17 Let 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.
18 For if he is the true son of God, he will receive him and deliver him from the hands of his adversaries.	18 For if he be the true son of God, he will defend him, and will deliver him from the hands of his enemies.
19 Let us examine him with insult and torture, that we may know his reverence and try his patience.	19 Let us examine him by outrages and tortures, that we may know his meekness and try his patience.
20 Let us condemn him to a most shameful death, for, according to his own words, God will care for him.”	20 Let us condemn him to a most shameful death: for there shall be respect had unto him by his words.
21 These things they thought, and they were mistaken, for their own malice blinded them.	21 These things they thought, and were deceived: for their own malice blinded them.
22 And they were ignorant of the mysteries of God; they neither hoped for the reward of justice, nor judged the value of holy souls.	22 And they knew not the secrets of God, nor hoped for the wages of justice, nor esteemed the honour of holy souls.
23 For God created man to be immortal, and he made him in the image of his own likeness.	23 For God created man incorruptible, and to the image of his own likeness he made him.
24 But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world,	24 But by the envy of the devil, death came into the world:
25 yet they imitate him, who are from his side.	25 And they follow him that are of his side.