Wisdom of Solomon (Wis. 2)

[1] For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves,
"Short and sorrowful is our life,
and there is no remedy when a man comes to his end,
and no one has been known to return from Hades.

[2] Because we were born by mere chance,
and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been;
because the breath in our nostrils is smoke,
and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our hearts.

[3] When it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes,
and the spirit will dissolve like empty air.

[4] Our name will be forgotten in time
and no one will remember our works;
our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud,
and be scattered like mist
that is chased by the rays of the sun
and overcome by its heat.

[5] For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow,
and there is no return from our death,
because it is sealed up and no one turns back.

[6] "Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that exist,
and make use of the creation to the full as in youth.

[7] Let us take our fill of costly wine and perfumes,
and let no flower of spring pass by us.

[8] Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.

[9] Let none of us fail to share in our revelry,
everywhere let us leave signs of enjoyment,
because this is our portion, and this our lot.

[10] Let us oppress the righteous poor man;
let us not spare the widow
nor regard the gray hairs of the aged.

[11] But let our might be our law of right,
for what is weak proves itself to be useless.

[12] "Let us lie in wait for the righteous man,
because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions;
he reproaches us for sins against the law,
and accuses us of sins against our training.

[13] He professes to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself a child of the Lord.

[14] He became to us a reproof of our thoughts;

[15] the very sight of him is a burden to us,
because his manner of life is unlike that of others,
and his ways are strange.

[16] We are considered by him as something base,
and he avoids our ways as unclean;
he calls the last end of the righteous happy,
and boasts that God is his father.

[17] Let us see if his words are true,
and let us test what will happen at the end of his life;

[18] for if the righteous man is God's son, he will help him,
and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.

[19] Let us test him with insult and torture,
that we may find out how gentle he is,
and make trial of his forbearance.

[20] Let us condemn him to a shameful death,
for, according to what he says, he will be protected."

[21] Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray,
for their wickedness blinded them,

[22] and they did not know the secret purposes of God,
nor hope for the wages of holiness,
nor discern the prize for blameless souls;

[23] for God created man for incorruption,
and made him in the image of his own eternity,

[24] but through the devil's envy death entered the world,
and those who belong to his party experience it.