Chapter 3

¹But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them. ²In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure was taken for misery: ³And their going away from us, for utter destruction: but they are in peace. ⁴And though in the sight of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality. ⁵Afflicted in few things, in many they shall be well rewarded: because God hath tried them, and found them worthy of himself. ⁶As 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. ⁷The just shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds. ⁸They shall judge nations, and rule over people, and their Lord shall reign for ever. ⁹They 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. ¹⁰But the wicked shall be punished according to their own devices: who have neglected the just, and have revolted from the Lord. ¹¹For he that rejecteth wisdom, and discipline, is unhappy: and their hope is vain, and their labours without fruit, and their works unprofitable. ¹²Their wives are foolish, and their children wicked. ¹³Their 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. ¹⁴And 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. ¹⁵For the fruit of good labours is glorious, and the root of wisdom never faileth. ¹⁶But the children of adulterers shall not come to perfection, and the seed of the unlawful bed shall be rooted out. ¹⁷And if they live long, they shall be nothing regarded, and their last old age shall be without honour. ¹⁸And if they die quickly, they shall have no hope, nor speech of comfort in the day of trial. ¹⁹For dreadful are the ends of a wicked race.