The Souls of the Righteous

Wisdom is a spirit who loves people,but she won’t let a blasphemer off for what his lips have said,because God is a witness to what is deepest in him,keeps true watch over his heart,and hears what his tongue says.The spirit of the Lord has filled the world,and what holds all things together knows what is said.So no one who speaks what is wrong will go unseen,and when Justice brings its charge, it won’t pass him by.An ungodly man’s plans will be searched out,and the sound of his words will reach the Lordto prove his lawless deeds against him,because a jealous ear listens to everything,and the noise of grumbling isn’t hidden.So watch out for grumbling that does no good,and keep your tongue from slander.No word said in secret will come to nothing,and a lying mouth destroys a soul.

Don’t go chasing after death by living the wrong way.Don’t pull destruction down on yourselves by what your hands do,because God didn’t make death,and he takes no delight when the living die.He created all things so that they would exist.The powers in the world that give life are wholesome.There is no destroying poison in them,and Hades does not rule as king on the earth,because righteousness never dies.

This is what they said among themselves, and their reasoning was unsound:

“Our life is short and filled with sorrow.When someone comes to his end, there is no cure,and we know of no one ever set free from Hades.We came to be by mere chance,and after this we’ll be as if we had never existed.The breath in our nostrils is smoke,and our reason is a spark struck by the beating of our heart.When it goes out, the body will become ashes,and the spirit will drift apart like thin air.In time our name will be forgotten.No one will remember what we did.Our life will pass like the trail a cloud leaves behind.It will scatter like mistwhen the sun’s rays chase it off and its heat overcomes it.The time we are given passes like a shadow.Our end won’t back away,because it is firmly sealed, and no one turns it back.

“So come, let’s enjoy the good things there are.Let’s make eager use of the creation, as in our youth.Let’s fill ourselves with expensive wine and perfume,and let no spring flower get past us.Let’s put crowns of rosebuds on our heads before they wilt.Let none of us miss his share of our proud celebrations.Let’s leave signs of our good times everywhere,because this is our share, and this is our lot.

“Let’s oppress the poor man who is righteous.Let’s not spare the widow,or care about an old man’s gray hair.But let our strength be the law that says what is right,because what is weak is shown to be useless.”

They go on:

“But let’s lie in wait for the righteous man,because he annoys us,is contrary to our works,reproaches us with sins against the law,and charges us with sins against our training.He professes to have knowledge of God,and calls himself a child of the Lord.He became to us a reproof of our thoughts.He is grievous to us even to look at,because his life is unlike other men’s,and his paths are strange.We were regarded by him as something worthless,and he abstains from our ways as from uncleanness.He calls the latter end of the righteous happy.He boasts that God is his father.Let’s see if his words are true.Let’s test what will happen at the end of his life.For if the righteous man is God’s son, he will uphold him,and he will deliver him out of the hand of his adversaries.Let’s test him with insult and torture,that we may find out how gentle he is,and test his patience.Let’s condemn him to a shameful death,for he will be protected, according to his words.”

That is how they reasoned, and they were led astray,because their wickedness blinded them.They did not know the mysteries of God.They didn’t hope for holiness to be rewarded,or see that blameless souls win a prize.

Because God created man for incorruption,and made him an image of his own everlastingness;but death entered into the world by the envy of the devil,and those who belong to him experience it.

They went through a little discipline, and they will receive great good,because God tested them and found them worthy of himself.He tested them like gold in the furnace,and he accepted them as a whole burnt offering.When the time comes for them to be visited, they will shine.They will run back and forth like sparks through the stubble in a field.They will judge nations and govern peoples.The Lord will rule as king over them forever.Those who trust him will understand the truth.The faithful will live with him in love,because grace and mercy are with his chosen ones.

Someone was found pleasing to God, and was loved.While he was living among sinners, he was taken away.He was snatched away so that wickedness would not change his understanding,or trickery fool his soul.The spell that wickedness casts hides what is good,and the whirl of desire twists an innocent mind.He was made perfect quickly,and he filled up a long time,because his soul pleased the Lord.So he hurried out of the middle of wickedness.

But the peoples saw it and didn’t understand.They didn’t stop to think about this:that grace and mercy are with his chosen ones,and that he visits his holy ones.A righteous man who has died will condemn the ungodly who are still alive,and a young life quickly made perfect will condemn the many years of a wicked man’s old age.The ungodly will see how a wise man’s life ends,and they won’t understand what the Lord planned for him,or why he kept him safe.

They will be sorry, and in their distress they will groan and say to one another:

“This was the man we used to laugh at,the one we made a laughingstock.We fools thought his life was madness,and his end a disgrace.How did he come to be counted among the sons of God?How does he have his share among the holy ones?We really did stray from the way of truth.The light of righteousness didn’t shine for us.The sun didn’t rise for us.We had our fill of the paths of lawlessness and ruin.We crossed deserts without any roads,but we didn’t know the Lord’s way.What good did our arrogance do us?What have our riches and our boasting done for us?

“All those things are gone like a shadow,like a rumor that hurries by,like a ship crossing the swelling water:once it is gone, no sign of it can be found,no path left in the waves by the keel along its bottom.Or it is like a bird flying through the air:no sign of where it went is found.The beat of its wings whips the light wind,and the fierce rush of its wings tears the wind apartas the bird passes through,but afterward no sign is left that it came that way.Or it is like an arrow shot at a target:the air it split closes up again at once,so no one knows where it went through.So it was with us too: as soon as we were born, we were gone.We had no sign of goodness to show,but we were used up completely in our wickedness.”

The hope of an ungodly man is like chaff carried off by the wind,like foam that vanishes before a storm.The wind scatters it like smoke,and it passes like the memory of a guest who stays for a single day.

But the righteous live forever.Their reward is in the Lord,and the Most High looks after them.So they will receive a crown of royal honorand a crown of beauty from the Lord’s hand,because he will cover them with his right hand,and shield them with his arm.

Her true beginning is the desire to be taught,and the desire to be taught is love.Love is keeping her laws.Paying attention to her laws makes immortality sure.Immortality brings closeness to God.So the desire for wisdom raises a person to a kingdom.

That is why I prayed, and understanding was given to me.I asked, and a spirit of wisdom came to me.I chose her over scepters and thrones.I thought riches were nothing compared with her.I didn’t compare any priceless jewel to her,because beside her all gold is a little sand,and silver will count as clay in front of her.I loved her more than health and beauty.I chose to have her instead of light,because her bright shining never goes to sleep.

With her, all good things came to me,and countless riches are in her hands.I was glad about them all, because wisdom leads them,though I didn’t know that she was their mother.Just as I learned honestly, I share freely.I don’t hide her riches.She is a treasure for people, one that never runs out.Those who use it gain friendship with God,and the gifts they bring through discipline speak well of them.

Wisdom can move more freely than anything that moves.Her purity lets her spread through all things and pass into them.She is a breath of the power of God,flowing out pure from the glory of the Almighty.So nothing unclean can find its way into her.She is a reflection of everlasting light,a spotless mirror of God at work,and an image of his goodness.

She is only one, yet she has the power to do all things.She stays within herself, and she renews all things.Age after age she enters holy soulsand turns them into friends of God, and prophets.God loves nothing as much as someone who lives with wisdom.

She is lovelier than the sun,above every constellation of the stars.She is better than light.Daylight gives way to night,but wickedness never wins against wisdom.She reaches from one end to the other in all her strength,and she puts all things in good order.

“God of my ancestors, Lord of mercy,you made all things by your word,and by your wisdom you shaped manto have charge over the creatures you made,to rule the world in holiness and righteousness,and to judge with an honest soul.Give me wisdom, who sits beside you on your thrones.Don’t turn me away from among your servants,because I am your servant and the son of your servant woman,a weak man who will not live long,with little power to understand judgment and laws.Even if a man is perfect among all people,he will count for nothing if the wisdom that comes from you is not with him.You chose me to be king of your people,and judge of your sons and daughters.You gave the command to build a sanctuary on your holy mountain,and an altar in the city where you live,a copy of the holy tent which you made ready from the beginning.

“Wisdom is with you, and she knows your works.She was there when you were making the world.She understands what pleases youand what is right according to your commandments.Send her out from the holy heavens,ask her to come from the throne of your glory,so that she can be here and work with me,and I can learn what pleases you.She knows everything and understands,and she will lead me with good sense in what I do.She will guard me in her glory.So my works will be acceptable.I will judge your people rightly,and I will be worthy of my father’s throne.

“What human being can know the plans of God?Who can imagine what the Lord wants?

“Who has ever known your plans, unless you gave wisdomand sent your holy spirit from on high?This is how the ways of people on earth were straightened out,and people were taught the things that are pleasing to you.They were saved through wisdom.”