Wisdom

¹But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will touch them. ²In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died. Their departure was considered a disaster, ³and their travel away from us ruin, but they are in peace. ⁴For even if in the sight of men they are punished, their hope is full of immortality. ⁵Having borne a little chastening, they will receive great good; because God tested them, and found them worthy of himself. ⁶He tested them like gold in the furnace, and he accepted them as a whole burnt offering. ⁷In the time of their visitation they will shine. They will run back and forth like sparks among stubble. ⁸They will judge nations and have dominion over peoples. The Lord will reign over them forever. ⁹Those who trust him will understand truth. The faithful will live with him in love, because grace and mercy are with his chosen ones.

¹⁰But the ungodly will be punished even as their reasoning deserves, those who neglected righteousness and revolted from the Lord; ¹¹for he who despises wisdom and discipline is miserable. Their hope is void and their toils unprofitable. Their works are useless. ¹²Their wives are foolish and their children are wicked.

¹³Their descendants are cursed. For the barren woman who is undefiled is happy, she who has not conceived in transgression. She will have fruit when God examines souls. ¹⁴So is the eunuch which has done no lawless deed with his hands, nor imagined wicked things against the Lord; for a precious gift will be given to him for his faithfulness, and a delightful inheritance in the Lord’s sanctuary. ¹⁵For good labors have fruit of great renown. The root of understanding can’t fail. ¹⁶But children of adulterers will not come to maturity. The seed of an unlawful union will vanish away. ¹⁷For if they live long, they will not be esteemed, and in the end, their old age will be without honor. ¹⁸If they die young, they will have no hope, nor consolation in the day of judgment. ¹⁹For the end of an unrighteous generation is always grievous.