The Wisdom of Solomon

⭑ Catholic Public Domain Version 2009 ⭑

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- Chapter 1 -

An exhortation to seek God sincerely, who cannot be deceived, and desires not our death.

Love justice, you who judge the land. Think of the Lord in goodness and seek him in simplicity of heart.(a)

For he is found by those who do not test him, yet he reveals himself to those who have faith in him.

For perverse thoughts separate from God. But his virtue, when it is tested, corrects the foolish.(b)

For wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subdued by sin.

For the holy spirit of instruction will flee from falsehood, and he will withdraw himself from thoughts that are without understanding, and he will not be reached when iniquity overcomes.(c)

For the spirit of wisdom is benevolent, and will not release the evil speaker from his talk, because God is a witness of his temperament, and a true examiner of his heart, and an auditor of his words.(d)

For the spirit of the Lord has filled the world, and he who contains all things, retains knowledge of every voice.

Therefore, he who speaks unjust things cannot escape notice, nor will the chastising judgment pass him by.

For inquiry will be made into the thoughts of the impious, his conversation also will reach the hearing of God, to the chastising of his iniquities.

For the zealous ear hears all things, and the disturbance of complaining will not be hidden.

Therefore, keep yourselves from complaining, which benefits nothing, and refrain your tongue from slander, because secret conversation will not pass into nothingness, and the mouth that lies kills the soul.

Do not court death by the error of your life, nor procure your destruction by the works of your hands,

because God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the loss of the living.

For he created all things that they might exist, and he made the nations of the world curable, and there is no medicine of extermination in them, nor a kingdom of hell upon the earth.(e)

For justice is perpetual and immortal.

But the impious, with hands and words, have called death to them, and, esteeming it a friend, they have fallen away and have made a covenant with death, because they deserved to take part in it.(f)

Footnotes

(a)1:1 Diligite can also mean choose, terram means land, whereas orbis terram would mean earth, or, literally, the circle of lands.(Conte)

(b)1:3 Virtus can refer to either power or virtue; when used about God it should be understood to mean both, for in God virtue is power and power is virtue. God is one.(Conte)

(c)1:5 Disciplinae can mean discipline or instruction or teaching or training, or perhaps all those things put together.(Conte)

(d)1:6 Literally, the text refers to kidneys, heart, and tongue. The reader will understand that the meaning of heart in this context is something like inner most being. Likewise, the word tongue is used metaphorically to refer to words or speaking. The kidneys, in ancient times, also had a metaphorical meaning, which refers to temperament. On the positive side, kidneys are a metaphor for patience and self-restraint. On the negative side, it refers to losing one’s temper and to temperament in general as a point of vulnerability.(Conte)

(e)1:14 Sanabiles means curable, but it could also be translated as savable. As in other verses, medicine here has a negative connotation. Inferorum literally means below or the underworld, but it is often used to refer to hell.(Conte)

(f)1:16 Latin uses many different pronouns very frequently. Pronouns in Latin have case, gender, and are singular or plural. When translated into English, there are fewer pronouns and fewer forms of each pronoun. Therefore, so that some meaning will not be lost in translation, sometimes the noun the pronoun refers to is used in the English translation. Illam refers to death, continuing the theme of the previous verses.(Conte)