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