Book of Wisdom (or Wisdom of Solomon)
Chapter 11
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She made their affairs prosper through the holy prophet.
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1 They journeyed through the uninhabited desert, and in solitudes they pitched their tents;
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they withstood enemies and took vengeance on their foes.
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When they thirsted, they called upon you, and water was given them from the sheer rock, assuagement for their thirst from the hard stone.
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For by the things through which their foes were punished they in their need were benefited.
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2 Instead of a spring, when the perennial river was troubled with impure blood
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as a rebuke to the decree for the slaying of infants, You gave them abundant water in an unhoped-for way,
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once you had shown by the thirst they then had how you punished their adversaries.
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For when they had been tried, though only mildly chastised, they recognized how the wicked, condemned in anger, were being tormented.
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Both those afar off and those close by were afflicted:
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the latter you tested, admonishing them as a father; the former as a stern king you probed and condemned.
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For a twofold grief took hold of them and a groaning at the remembrance of the ones who had departed.
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For when they heard that the cause of their own torments was a benefit to these others, they recognized the Lord.
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Him who of old had been cast out in exposure they indeed mockingly rejected; but in the end of events, they marveled at him, since their thirst proved unlike that of the just.
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3 And in return for their senseless, wicked thoughts, which misled them into worshiping dumb serpents and worthless insects, You sent upon them swarms of dumb creatures for vengeance;
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that they might recognize that a man is punished by the very things through which he sins.
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For not without means was your almighty hand, that had fashioned the universe from formless matter, to send upon them a drove of bears or fierce lions,
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Or new-created, wrathful, unknown beasts to breathe forth fiery breath, Or pour out roaring smoke, or flash terrible sparks from their eyes.
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Not only could these attack and completely destroy them; even their frightful appearance itself could slay.
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Even without these, they could have been killed at a single blast, pursued by retribution and winnowed out by your mighty spirit; But you have disposed all things by measure and number and weight.
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For with you great strength abides always; who can resist the might of your arm?
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4 Indeed, before you the whole universe is as a grain from a balance, or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.
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But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook the sins of men that they may repent.
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For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.
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And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you?
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But you spare all things, because they are yours, O LORD and lover of souls,
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1 [2-4] Few verses in these later chapters can be fully understood without consulting the passages in the Mosaic books which are indicated in the cross references. The theme of this part of the book is expressed in ⇒ Wisdom 11:5 and is illustrated in the following chapters by five examples drawn from Exodus events.
2 [6-8] The perennial river: the Nile; the contrast is between the first plague of Egypt (⇒ Exodus 7:17-24) and the water drawn from the rock in Horeb (⇒ Exodus 17:5-7; ⇒ Numbers 20:8-11).
3 [15] Dumb: that is, irrational.
4 [22] Grain from a balance: a tiny particle used for weighing on sensitive scales.
Chapter 12
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for your imperishable spirit is in all things!
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Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little, warn them, and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O LORD!
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For truly, the ancient inhabitants of your holy land,
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whom you hated for deeds most odious - Works of witchcraft and impious sacrifices;
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1 a cannibal feast of human flesh and of blood, from the midst of. . . - These merciless murderers of children,
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and parents who took with their own hands defenseless lives, You willed to destroy by the hands of our fathers,
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that the land that is dearest of all to you might receive a worthy colony of God's children.
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But even these, as they were men, you spared, and sent wasps as forerunners of your army that they might exterminate them by degrees.
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Not that you were without power to have the wicked vanquished in battle by the just, or wiped out at once by terrible beasts or by one decisive word;
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But condemning them bit by bit, you gave them space for repentance. You were not unaware that their race was wicked and their malice ingrained, And that their dispositions would never change;
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for they were a race accursed from the beginning. Neither out of fear for anyone did you grant amnesty for their sins.
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For who can say to you, "What have you done?" or who can oppose your decree? Or when peoples perish, who can challenge you, their maker; or who can come into your presence as vindicator of unjust men?
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For neither is there any god besides you who have the care of all, that you need show you have not unjustly condemned;
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Nor can any king or prince confront you on behalf of those you have punished.
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But as you are just, you govern all things justly; you regard it as unworthy of your power to punish one who has incurred no blame.
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For your might is the source of justice; your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.
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2 For you show your might when the perfection of your power is disbelieved; and in those who know you, you rebuke temerity.
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But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency, and with much lenience you govern us; for power, whenever you will, attends you.
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And you taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind; And you gave your sons good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins.
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For these were enemies of your servants, doomed to death; yet, while you punished them with such solicitude and pleading, granting time and opportunity to abandon wickedness,
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With what exactitude you judged your sons, to whose fathers you gave the sworn covenants of goodly promises!
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Us, therefore, you chastise and our enemies with a thousand blows you punish, that we may think earnestly of your goodness when we judge, and, when being judged, may look for mercy.
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Hence those unjust also, who lived a life of folly, you tormented through their own abominations.
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For they went far astray in the paths of error, taking for gods the worthless and disgusting among beasts, deceived like senseless infants.
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Therefore as though upon unreasoning children, you sent your judgment on them as a mockery;
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But they who took no heed of punishment which was but child's play were to experience a condemnation worthy of God.
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For in the things through which they suffered distress, since they were tortured by the very things they deemed gods, They saw and recognized the true God whom before they had refused to know; with this, their final condemnation came upon them.
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1 [5] And of blood, from the midst of . . .: this line is obscure in the current Greek text and in all extant translations. Either one or two words would complete it. The horrible crimes here spoken of (cf ⇒ Wisdom 14:23) were not unheard of in the ancient pagan world.
2 [17] The brunt of God's anger and vindictive justice is borne by those who know him and yet defy his authority and might. Cf ⇒ Wisdom 1:2; ⇒ 15:2 but also ⇒ 12:27; ⇒ 18:13.
Chapter 13
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1 For all men were by nature foolish who were in ignorance of God, and who from the good things seen did not succeed in knowing him who is, and from studying the works did not discern the artisan;
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2 But either fire, or wind, or the swift air, or the circuit of the stars, or the mighty water, or the luminaries of heaven, the governors of the world, they considered gods.
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Now if out of joy in their beauty they thought them gods, let them know how far more excellent is the Lord than these; for the original source of beauty fashioned them.
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Or if they were struck by their might and energy, let them from these things realize how much more powerful is he who made them.
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For from the greatness and the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen.
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3 But yet, for these the blame is less; For they indeed have gone astray perhaps, though they seek God and wish to find him.
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For they search busily among his works, but are distracted by what they see, because the things seen are fair.
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But again, not even these are pardonable.
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For if they so far succeeded in knowledge that they could speculate about the world, how did they not more quickly find its LORD?
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Taken from: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__PLU.HTM
