Wisdom Chapter 3

The happiness of the just: and the unhappiness of the wicked.

English (Douay-Rheims)

1 But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them.
2 In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure was taken for misery:
3 And their going away from us, for utter destruction: but they are in peace.
4 And though in the sight of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality.
5 Afflicted in few things, in many they shall be well rewarded: because God hath tried them, and found them worthy of himself.
6 As gold in the furnace, he hath proved them, and as a victim of a holocaust, he hath received them, and in time there shall be respect had to them.
7 The just shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds.
8 They shall judge nations, and rule over people, and their Lord shall reign for ever.
9 They that trust in him shall understand the truth: and they that are faithful in love, shall rest in him: for grace and peace are to his elect.
10 But the wicked shall be punished according to their own devices: who have neglected the just, and have revolted from the Lord.
11 For he that rejecteth wisdom, and discipline, is unhappy: and their hope is vain, and their labours without fruit, and their works unprofitable.
12 Their wives are foolish, and their children wicked.
13 Their offspring is cursed, for happy is the barren: and the undefiled, that hath not known bed in sin, she shall have fruit in the visitation of holy souls.
14 And the eunuch, that hath not wrought iniquity with his hands, nor thought wicked things against God for the precious gift of faith shall be given to him, and a most acceptable lot in the temple of God.
15 For the fruit of good labours is glorious, and the root of wisdom never faileth.
16 But the children of adulterers shall not come to perfection, and the seed of the unlawful bed shall be rooted out.
17 And if they live long, they shall be nothing regarded, and their last old age shall be without honour.
18 And if they die quickly, they shall have no hope, nor speech of comfort in the day of trial.
19 For dreadful are the ends of a wicked race.

Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
New Testament first published 1582 by the English College at Rheims
Revised and Annotated 1749 by Bishop Richard Challoner
Imprimatur. +James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899

Latin (Clementine Vulgate)

1 Justorum autem animæ in manu Dei sunt,
et non tangent illos tormentum mortis.
2 Visi sunt oculis insipientium mori,
et æstimata est afflictio exitus illorum,
3 et quod a nobis est iter exterminium;
illi autem sunt in pace:
4 etsi coram hominibus tormenta passi sunt,
spes illorum immortalitate plena est.
5 In paucis vexati sunt, in multis bene disponentur,
quoniam Deus tentavit eos,
et invenit illos dignos se.
6 Tamquam aurum in fornace probavit illos,
et quasi holocausti hostiam accepit illos,
et in tempore erit respectus illorum.
7 Fulgebunt justi
et tamquam scintillæ in arundineto discurrent.
8 Judicabunt nationes, et dominabuntur populis,
et regnabit Dominus illorum in perpetuum.
9 Qui confidunt in illo intelligent veritatem,
et fideles in dilectione acquiescent illi,
quoniam donum et pax est electis ejus.
10 Impii autem secundum quæ cogitaverunt
correptionem habebunt:
qui neglexerunt justum,
et a Domino recesserunt.
11 Sapientiam enim et disciplinam qui abjicit infelix est:
et vacua est spes illorum,
et labores sine fructu,
et inutilia opera eorum.
12 Mulieres eorum insensatæ sunt,
et nequissimi filii eorum.
13 Maledicta creatura eorum, quoniam felix est sterilis;
et incoinquinata, quæ nescivit thorum in delicto,
habebit fructum in respectione animarum sanctarum;
14 et spado qui non operatus est per manus suas iniquitatem,
nec cogitavit adversus Deum nequissima:
dabitur enim illi fidei donum electum,
et sors in templo Dei acceptissima.
15 Bonorum enim laborum gloriosus est fructus,
et quæ non concidat radix sapientiæ.
16 Filii autem adulterorum in inconsummatione erunt,
et ab iniquo thoro semen exterminabitur.
17 Et si quidem longæ vitæ erunt, in nihilum computabuntur,
et sine honore erit novissima senectus illorum:
18 et si celerius defuncti fuerint, non habebunt spem,
nec in die agnitionis allocutionem.
19 Nationis enim iniquæ diræ sunt consummationes.

Transcribed as part of the Clementine Vulgate Project
Please notify the original transcriber (little.mouth@soon.com) of any errors in this Latin edition