Wisdom 2

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
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 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 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 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 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 And when this is quenched, our body will be ashes and our spirit will be poured abroad like unresisting air.
4 And in time our name will surrender to oblivion, and no one will have remembrance of our works.	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 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 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 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, let us enjoy the good things that are real, and use the freshness of creation avidly.
7 Let us indulge ourselves with costly wine and ointments, and let no flower of youth pass us by.	7 Let us have our fill of costly wine and perfumes, and let no springtime blossom pass us by;
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 rosebuds ere they wither.
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 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 poor just man, and not spare the widow, nor respect the aged grey hairs of elders.	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 the law of justice, for what is weak is found to be useless.	11 But let our strength be our norm of justice; for weakness proves itself useless.
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 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 promises that he has the knowledge of God and he calls himself the son of God.	13 He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the LORD.
14 He was made among us to expose our very thoughts.	14 To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us,
15 He is grievous for us even to behold, for his life is unlike other men’s lives, and immutable are his ways.	15 Because his life is not like other men's, and different are his ways.
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 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, 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 whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him.
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 the just one be the son of God, he will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes.
19 Let us examine him with insult and torture, that we may know his reverence and try his patience.	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 most shameful death, for, according to his own words, God will care for him.”	20 Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him."
21 These things they thought, and they were mistaken, for their own malice blinded them.	21 These were their thoughts, but they erred; for their wickedness 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 hidden counsels of God; neither did they count on a recompense of holiness nor discern the innocent souls' reward.
23 For God created man to be immortal, and he made him in the image of his own likeness.	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,	24 But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who are in his possession experience it.
25 yet they imitate him, who are from his side.