The Book of Wisdom — Liber Sapientiæ
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Chapter 3
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Douay-Rheims><Vulgate><Knox Bible
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But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them.
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Justorum autem animæ in manu Dei sunt, et non tanget illos tormentum mortis.
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But the souls of the just are in God’s hands, and no torment, in death itself, has power to reach them.
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In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure was taken for misery:
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Visi sunt oculis insipientium mori, et æstimata est afflictio exitus illorum,
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Dead? Fools think so; think their end loss,
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And their going away from us, for utter destruction: but they are in peace.
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et quod a nobis est iter exterminium; illi autem sunt in pace:
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their leaving us, annihilation; but all is well with them.
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And though in the sight of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality.
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etsi coram hominibus tormenta passi sunt, spes illorum immortalitate plena est.
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The world sees nothing but the pains they endure; they themselves have eyes only for what is immortal;
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Afflicted in few things, in many they shall be well rewarded: because God hath tried them, and found them worthy of himself.
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In paucis vexati sunt, in multis bene disponentur, quoniam Deus tentavit eos, et invenit illos dignos se.
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so light their suffering, so great the gain they win! God, all the while, did but test them, and testing them found them worthy of him.
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As gold in the furnace he hath proved them, and as a victim of a holocaust he hath received them, and in time there shall be respect had to them.
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Tamquam aurum in fornace probavit illos, et quasi holocausti hostiam accepit illos, et in tempore erit respectus illorum.
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His gold, tried in the crucible, his burnt-sacrifice, graciously accepted, they do but wait for the time of their deliverance;
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The just shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds.
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Fulgebunt justi et tamquam scintillæ in arundineto discurrent.
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then they will shine out, these just souls, unconquerable as the sparks that break out, now here, now there, among the stubble.
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They shall judge nations, and rule over people, and their Lord shall reign for ever.
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Judicabunt nationes, et dominabuntur populis, et regnabit Dominus illorum in perpetuum.
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Theirs to sit in judgement on nations, to subdue whole peoples, under a Lord whose reign shall last for ever.
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They that trust in him, shall understand the truth: and they that are faithful in love shall rest in him: for grace and peace is to his elect.
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Qui confidunt in illo intelligent veritatem, et fideles in dilectione acquiescent illi, quoniam donum et pax est electis ejus.
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Trust him if thou wilt, true thou shalt find him; faith waits for him calmly and lovingly; who claims his gift, who shall attain peace, if not they, his chosen servants?
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But the wicked shall be punished according to their own devices: who have neglected the just, and have revolted from the Lord.
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Impii autem secundum quæ cogitaverunt correptionem habebunt: qui neglexerunt justum, et a Domino recesserunt.
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But dearly shall the wicked pay for their error, for the claims of right forgotten, for the Lord’s will defied.
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For he that rejecteth wisdom, and discipline, is unhappy: and their hope is vain, and their labours without fruit, and their works unprofitable.
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Sapientiam enim et disciplinam qui abjicit infelix est: et vacua est spes illorum, et labores sine fructu, et inutilia opera eorum.
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Their case is pitiable indeed, who make light of true wisdom and of ordered living; vain their hope, profitless their toil, barren their achievement.
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Their wives are foolish, and their children wicked.
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Mulieres eorum insensatæ sunt, et nequissimi filii eorum.
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Light women are the wives they wed, worthless is their brood;
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Their offspring is cursed: for happy is the barren: and the undefiled, that hath not known bed in sin: she shall have fruit in the visitation of holy souls.
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Maledicta creatura eorum, quoniam felix est sterilis; et incoinquinata, quæ nescivit thorum in delicto, habebit fructum in respectione animarum sanctarum;
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a curse lies on their begetting. Blessed, rather, her lot, that childless is, yet chaste, that never knew the bed of shame; offspring she will not lack, when holy souls have their reward.
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And the eunuch, that hath not wrought iniquity with his hands, nor thought wicked things against God: for the precious gift of faith shall be given to him, and a most acceptable lot in the temple of God.
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et spado qui non operatus est per manus suas iniquitatem, nec cogitavit adversus Deum nequissima: dabitur enim illi fidei donum electum, et sors in templo Dei acceptissima.
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Nay, let there be some eunuch that has kept his hands clear of wrong, has never harboured treasonable thought against the Lord; he too with rare gifts shall be faithfully rewarded, shall have the portion that most contents him in God’s holy place.
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For the fruit of good labours is glorious, and the root of wisdom never faileth.
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Bonorum enim laborum gloriosus est fructus, et quæ non concidat radix sapientiæ.
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A noble harvest good men reap from their labours; wisdom is a root which never yet cast its crop.
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But the children of adulterers shall not come to perfection, and the seed of the unlawful bed shall be rooted out.
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Filii autem adulterorum in inconsummatione erunt, et ab iniquo thoro semen exterminabitur.
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Not so the adulterers; never look for children of theirs to thrive; the offspring of the unhallowed wedlock will vanish away.
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And if they live long, they shall be nothing regarded, and their last old age shall be without honour.
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Et si quidem longæ vitæ erunt, in nihilum computabuntur, et sine honore erit novissima senectus illorum:
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Live they long, they shall be held in no regard, in their late age unhonoured;
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And if they die quickly, they shall have no hope, nor speech of comfort in the day of trial.
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et si celerius defuncti fuerint, non habebunt spem, nec in die agnitionis allocutionem.
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die they soon, they shall die without hope, no comfort to sustain them in the day when all comes to light.
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For dreadful are the ends of a wicked race.
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Nationis enim iniquæ diræ sunt consummationes.
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Bitterly they shall rue it hereafter, the race of the evil-doers.