The Suffering and Hope of the Righteous
1 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will touch them. 2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died. Their departure was considered a disaster, 3 and their departure from us was thought to be ruin, but they are in peace. 4 For even if in people’s eyes they are punished, their hope is full of immortality.
5 After enduring a little discipline, they will receive great good, because God tested them, and found them worthy of himself. 6 He tested them like gold in the furnace, and he accepted them as a whole burnt offering. 7 When God visits them they will shine. They will run back and forth like sparks among stubble. 8 They will judge nations and rule over peoples. The Lord will reign over them forever. 9 Those who trust him will understand truth. The faithful will live with him in love, because grace and mercy are with his chosen ones.
10 But the ungodly will be punished just as their reasoning deserves, those who neglected righteousness and rebelled against the Lord, 11 for he who despises wisdom and discipline is miserable. Their hope is empty and their efforts bear no benefit. Their works are useless. 12 Their wives are foolish and their children are wicked.
Virtue, Childlessness, and Lasting Fruitfulness
13 Their descendants are cursed. For the woman who cannot bear children and has remained pure is happy, she who has not conceived a child through sin. She will have fruit when God examines souls. 14 So is the eunuch who has done no lawless deed with his hands, or planned evil against the Lord, because a precious gift will be given to him for his faithfulness, and a delightful inheritance in the Lord’s sanctuary. 15 For good work bears fruit that is greatly honored. The root of understanding can’t fail.
16 But children of adulterers will not come to maturity. The offspring of an unlawful union will vanish. 17 For if they live long, they will not be respected, and in the end, their old age will be without honor. 18 If they die young, they will have no hope, or comfort in the day of judgment. 19 For the end of an unrighteous generation is painful.
Texts in conversation
Compare Jesus Ben Sira, Sirach 41:8 and Wisdom of Solomon 3:13
Deuterocanon
Summary
Passages
Jesus Ben Sira, Sirach 41:8
Deuterocanon · Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticusand with their descendants will be a perpetual disgrace. 7 Children will complain of an ungodly father,
because they suffer disgrace because of him. 8 How terrible for you, ungodly men,
who have abandoned the law of the Most High God! 9 If you are born, you will be born to a curse.
If you die, a curse will be your portion. 10 All things that are of the earth will go back to the earth,
so the ungodly will go from a curse to destruction.
Wisdom of Solomon 3:13
DeuterocanonTheir hope is empty and their efforts bear no benefit.
Their works are useless. 12 Their wives are foolish
and their children are wicked. 13 Their descendants are cursed.
For the woman who cannot bear children and has remained pure is happy,
she who has not conceived a child through sin.
She will have fruit when God examines souls. 14 So is the eunuch who has done no lawless deed with his hands,
or planned evil against the Lord,
because a precious gift will be given to him for his faithfulness,
and a delightful inheritance in the Lord’s sanctuary. 15 For good work bears fruit that is greatly honored.
The root of understanding can’t fail.
References
References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.
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