Wisdom of Solomon 12

For thine uncorruptible Spirit is in all things.

²Therefore chastenest thou them by little and little that ^aoffend, and warnest them by putting them in remembrance wherein they have offended, that leaving their wickedness they may believe on thee, O Lord. ³For it was thy will to destroy by the hands of our fathers both those old inhabitants of thy holy land, ⁴whom ^bthou hatedst for doing most odious works of ^cwitchcrafts, and wicked sacrifices; ⁵and also those ^dmerciless murderers of children, and devourers of man’s flesh, and the feasts of blood; ⁶with their priests out of the midst of their idolatrous crew, and ^dthe parents, that killed with their own hands souls destitute of help: ⁷that the land, which thou esteemedst above all other, might receive a worthy colony of God’s children. ⁸Nevertheless even those ^ethou sparedst as men, and didst send ^fwasps, forerunners of thine host, to destroy them by little and little. ⁹Not that thou wast unable to bring the ungodly under the hand of the righteous in battle, or to destroy them at once with cruel beasts, or with one rough word: ¹⁰but executing thy judgments upon them ^gby little and little, thou gavest them place of repentance, not being ignorant that they were a naughty generation, and that their malice was bred in them, and that their cogitation would never be changed. ¹¹For it was ^ha cursed seed from the beginning; neither didst thou for fear of any man give them pardon for those things wherein they sinned. ¹²ⁱFor who shall say, ^jWhat hast thou done? or who shall withstand thy judgment? or who shall ^kaccuse thee for the nations that perish, whom thou hast made? or who shall come to stand against thee, to be revenged for the unrighteous men? ¹³For neither is there any God but thou that ^lcareth for all, to whom thou mightest shew that thy judgment is not unright. ¹⁴Neither shall king or tyrant be able ^mto set his face against thee for any whom thou hast punished. ¹⁵Forsomuch then as thou art righteous thyself, thou orderest all things righteously: ⁿthinking it not agreeable with thy power to condemn him that hath not deserved to be punished. ¹⁶For thy power is the beginning of righteousness, and because thou art the Lord of all, ^eit maketh thee to be gracious unto all. ¹⁷For when men will not believe that thou art of a full power, thou shewest thy strength, and among them that know it thou makest their boldness manifest. ¹⁸But thou, mastering thy power, judgest with ^oequity, and orderest us ^ewith great favour: for ^pthou mayest use power when thou wilt.

¹⁹But by such works hast thou taught thy people that the just man should be merciful, and hast made thy children to be of a good hope that thou givest repentance for sins. ^20qFor if thou didst punish the enemies of thy children, and the condemned to death, with such deliberation, giving them ^rtime and place, whereby they might be delivered from their malice: ²¹with how great ^scircumspection didst thou judge thine own sons, ^tunto whose fathers thou hast sworn, and made covenants of good promises? ²²Therefore, whereas thou dost chasten us, thou scourgest our enemies a thousand times more, to the intent that, ^uwhen we judge, we should carefully think of thy goodness, and when we ourselves are judged, we should look for mercy. ²³Wherefore, whereas men have lived dissolutely and unrighteously, ^vthou hast tormented them with their own ^wabominations. ²⁴For ^vthey went astray very far in the ways of error, and ^xheld them for gods, which even amongst the beasts of their enemies were despised, being deceived, as children of no understanding. ²⁵Therefore unto them, as to children without the use of reason, thou didst send a judgment to mock them. ²⁶But they that would not be reformed by that correction, ^ywherein he dallied with them, shall feel a judgment worthy of God. ²⁷For, look, for what things they grudged, when they were punished, that is, for them whom they thought to be gods; now ^zbeing punished in them, when they saw it, they acknowledged him to be the true God, whom before they denied to know; and ^atherefore came extreme damnation upon them.

XIII.