Wisdom 2:1-12,22 NRSVue

¹For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves, “Short and sorrowful is our life, and there is no remedy when a life comes to its end, and no one has been known to return from Hades. ²For we were born by mere chance, and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been, for the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our hearts; ³when it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes, and the spirit will dissolve like empty air. ⁴Our 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. ⁵For 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. ⁷Let us take our fill of costly wine and perfumes, and let no flower of spring pass us by. ⁸Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither. ⁹Let no meadow be free from our revelry; everywhere let us leave signs of enjoyment, because this is our portion, and this our lot. ¹⁰Let us oppress the righteous poor man; let us not spare the widow or regard the gray hairs of the aged. ¹¹But 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. ²²and they did not know the secret purposes of God, nor hoped for the wages of holiness, nor discerned the prize for blameless souls,

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