| 1 they who said among themselves, thinking not aright: "Brief and troublous is our lifetime; neither is there any remedy for man's dying, nor is anyone known to have come back from the nether world. |
| 2 For haphazard were we born, and hereafter we shall be as though we had not been; Because the breath in our nostrils is a smoke and reason is a spark at the beating of our hearts, |
| 3 And when this is quenched, our body will be ashes and our spirit will be poured abroad like unresisting air. |
| 4 Even our name will be forgotten in time, and no one will recall our deeds. So our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud, and will be dispersed like a mist pursued by the sun's rays and overpowered by its heat. |
| 5 For our lifetime is the passing of a shadow; and our dying cannot be deferred because it is fixed with a seal; and no one returns. |
| 6 Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that are real, and use the freshness of creation avidly. |
| 7 Let us have our fill of costly wine and perfumes, and let no springtime blossom pass us by; |
| 8 let us crown ourselves with rosebuds ere they wither. |
| 9 Let no meadow be free from our wantonness; everywhere let us leave tokens of our rejoicing, for this our portion is, and this our lot. |
| 10 Let us oppress the needy just man; let us neither spare the widow nor revere the old man for his hair grown white with time. |
| 11 But let our strength be our norm of justice; for weakness proves itself useless. |
| 12 Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, Reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training. |
| 13 He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the LORD. |
| 14 To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us, |
| 15 Because his life is not like other men's, and different are his ways. |
| 16 He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He calls blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father. |
| 17 Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him. |
| 18 For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes. |
| 19 With revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience. |
| 20 Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him." |
| 21 These were their thoughts, but they erred; for their wickedness blinded them, |
| 22 And they knew not the hidden counsels of God; neither did they count on a recompense of holiness nor discern the innocent souls' reward. |
| 23 For God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made him. |
| 24 But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who are in his possession experience it. |