Wisdom of Solomon 2:16–24

¹⁶We 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.^*

¹⁷Let us see if his words are true,

and let us test what will happen at the end of his life,

¹⁸for if the righteous man is God’s child, he will help him

and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.^*

¹⁹Let us test him with insult and torture,

so that we may find out how reasonable he is

and make trial of his forbearance.^*

²⁰Let us condemn him to a shameful death,

for, according to what he says, he will be protected.”

Error of the Wicked

²¹Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray,

for their wickedness blinded them,^*

²²and they did not know the secret purposes of God,

nor hoped for the wages of holiness,

nor discerned the prize for blameless souls,^*

²³for God created us for incorruption

and made us in the image of his own eternity,^f*

²⁴but through an adversary’s^g envy death entered the world,

and those who belong to his company experience it.^*