Wisdom of Solomon, 12

1. For thine incorruptible Spirit is in all things.

1. In fact your immortal spirit is in all.

2. Therefore chastenest thou them by little and little that offend, and warnest them by putting them in remembrance wherein they have offended, that leaving their wickedness they may believe on thee, O Lord.

2. And so by degrees you correct those who sin, you admonish them, reminding them how they have strayed so that turning away from evil they may trust in you, Lord.

3. For it was thy will to destroy by the hands of our fathers both those old inhabitants of thy holy land,

3. So it happened with those who once lived in your holy land.

4. Whom thou hatedst for doing most odious works of witchcrafts, and wicked sacrifices;

4. You hated them because of their detestable practices, their sorcery and unholy worship.

5. And also those merciless murderers of children, and devourers of man's flesh, and the feasts of blood,

5. They were used to the pitiless slaughter of children at the feasts in which they ate human flesh and blood and even bowels, while they fulfilled secret rituals.

6. With their priests out of the midst of their idolatrous crew, and the parents, that killed with their own hands souls destitute of help:

6. Because these parents murdered their defenseless children, you wished our ancestors to destroy them,

7. That the land, which thou esteemedst above all other, might receive a worthy colony of God's children.

7. and the land dearest to you became the home of God's children who were worthy of it.

8. Nevertheless even those thou sparedst as men, and didst send wasps, forerunners of thine host, to destroy them by little and little.

8. But you even showed mercy to these sinners because they were human beings. You sent hornets ahead of your army to gradually destroy them.

9. Not that thou wast unable to bring the ungodly under the hand of the righteous in battle, or to destroy them at once with cruel beasts, or with one rough word:

9. You could have given the wicked over to the righteous in battle, or destroyed them in one blow by means of savage beasts or with a harsh command;

10. But executing thy judgments upon them by little and little, thou gavest them place of repentance, not being ignorant that they were a naughty generation, and that their malice was bred in them, and that their cogitation would never be changed.

10. but in punishng them gradually you gave them time to repent. Nevertheless you were aware of their evil nature, their innate malice and how fixed they were in their ways,

11. For it was a cursed seed from the beginning; neither didst thou for fear of any man give them pardon for those things wherein they sinned.

11. for it was a cursed race from the beginning. In any case, it was not through fear of anyone that you left their sins unpunished.

12. For who shall say, What hast thou done? or who shall withstand thy judgment? or who shall accuse thee for the nations that perish, whom thou made? or who shall come to stand against thee, to be revenged for the unrighteous men?

12. For who dares say to you, "What have you done?" Who would dare to reject your sentence? Who could reproach you for destroying the nations you formed? Who would dare rise against you in defense of the guilty?

13. For neither is there any God but thou that careth for all, to whom thou mightest shew that thy judgment is not unright.

13. For there is no other god besides you, one who cares for everyone, who could ask you to justify your judgments;

14. Neither shall king or tyrant be able to set his face against thee for any whom thou hast punished.

14. there is no other king or sovereign who could confront you and support those you punish.

15. Forsomuch then as thou art righteous thyself, thou orderest all things righteously: thinking it not agreeable with thy power to condemn him that hath not deserved to be punished.

15. You are just and you rule all with justice; had you condemned those who should not be punished, you would have misused your power.

16. For thy power is the beginning of righteousness, and because thou art the Lord of all, it maketh thee to be gracious unto all.

16. Your strength is the source of your justice and because you are the Lord of all, you can be merciful to everyone.

17. For when men will not believe that thou art of a full power, thou shewest thy strength, and among them that know it thou makest their boldness manifest.

17. To those who doubt your sovereign power you show your strength and you confound the insolence of those who ignore it.

18. But thou, mastering thy power, judgest with equity, and orderest us with great favour: for thou mayest use power when thou wilt.

18. But you, the Lord of strength, judge with prudence and govern us with great patience, because you are able to do anything at the time you want.

19. But by such works hast thou taught thy people that the just man should be merciful, and hast made thy children to be of a good hope that thou givest repentance for sins.

19. In this way you have taught your people that a righteous person must love his human fellows; you have also given your people cause for hope by prompting them to repent of their sin.

20. For if thou didst punish the enemies of thy children, and the condemned to death, with such deliberation, giving them time and place, whereby they might be delivered from their malice:

20. For if you have been careful and patient in punishing the enemies of your people when they deserved to die, and have given them a time and a place to turn from their wickedness,

21. With how great circumspection didst thou judge thine own sons, unto whose fathers thou hast sworn, and made covenants of good promises?

21. with what strict attention have you not judged your people, you who bound yourself to our fathers with oaths and covenants full of magnificent promises.

22. Therefore, whereas thou dost chasten us, thou scourgest our enemies a thousand times more, to the intent that, when we judge, we should carefully think of thy goodness, and when we ourselves are judged, we should look for mercy.

22. Yes, you punish us, but you punish our enemies far more severely to teach us when we judge others to remember your kindness, and when we are judged to count on your mercy.

23. Wherefore, whereas men have lived dissolutely and unrighteously, thou hast tormented them with their own abominations.

23. Those who lived foolishly and wickedly, you tormented with their own abominations.

24. For they went astray very far in the ways of error, and held them for gods, which even among the beasts of their enemies were despised, being deceived, as children of no understanding.

24. For they had strayed into error to the point of choosing vile and disgusting animals as gods, allowing themselves to be deceived like infants.

25. Therefore unto them, as to children without the use of reason, thou didst send a judgment to mock them.

25. And, as to children with no sense, you sent them a punishment to mock them;

26. But they that would not be reformed by that correction, wherein he dallied with them, shall feel a judgment worthy of God.

26. but if they took no warning from these corrections, they were soon to receive a punishment worthy of God.

27. For, look, for what things they grudged, when they were punished, that is, for them whom they thought to be gods; [now] being punished in them, when they saw it, they acknowledged him to be the true God, whom before they denied to know: and therefore came extreme damnation upon them.

27. In their suffering they became indignant at those animals they had taken as gods and who were now used to punish them. Then they saw clearly, and acknowledged as God, him whom before they had refused to know. That is why they suffered the supreme punishment.