Catholic Evangelization Training Center
Training in the NEW Evangelization
Wisdom Of Solomon Chapter 16-19
1 Therefore those men were deservedly punished through such creatures, and were tormented by a multitude of animals.
2 Instead of this punishment thou didst show kindness to thy people, and thou didst prepare quails to eat, a delicacy to satisfy the desire of appetite;
3 in order that those men, when they desired food, might lose the least remnant of appetite because of the odious creatures sent to them, while thy people, after suffering want a short time, might partake of delicacies.
4 For it was necessary that upon those oppressors inexorable want should come, while to these it was merely shown how their enemies were being tormented.
5 For when the terrible rage of wild beasts came upon thy people and they were being destroyed by the bites of writhing serpents, thy wrath did not continue to the end;
6 they were troubled for a little while as a warning, and received a token of deliverance to remind them of thy law's command.
7 For he who turned toward it was saved, not by what he saw, but by thee, the Savior of all.
8 And by this also thou didst convince our enemies that it is thou who deliverest from every evil.
9 For they were killed by the bites of locusts and flies, and no healing was found for them, because they deserved to be punished by such things;
10 but thy sons were not conquered even by the teeth of venomous serpents, for thy mercy came to their help and healed them.
11 To remind them of thy oracles they were bitten, and then were quickly delivered, lest they should fall into deep forgetfulness and become unresponsive to thy kindness.
12 For neither herb nor poultice cured them, but it was thy word, O Lord, which heals all men.
13 For thou hast power over life and death; thou dost lead men down to the gates of Hades and back again.
14 A man in his wickedness kills another, but he cannot bring back the departed spirit, nor set free the imprisoned soul.
15 To escape from thy hand is impossible;
16 for the ungodly, refusing to know thee, were scourged by the strength of thy arm, pursued by unusual rains and hail and relentless storms, and utterly consumed by fire.
17 For -- most incredible of all -- in the water, which quenches all things, the fire had still greater effect, for the universe defends the righteous.
18 At one time the flame was restrained, so that it might not consume the creatures sent against the ungodly, but that seeing this they might know that they were being pursued by the judgment of God;
19 and at another time even in the midst of water it burned more intensely than fire, to destroy the crops of the unrighteous land.
20 Instead of these things thou didst give thy people food of angels, and without their toil thou didst supply them from heaven with bread ready to eat, providing every pleasure and suited to every taste.
21 For thy sustenance manifested thy sweetness toward thy children; and the bread, ministering to the desire of the one who took it, was changed to suit every one's liking.
22 Snow and ice withstood fire without melting, so that they might know that the crops of their enemies were being destroyed by the fire that blazed in the hail and flashed in the showers of rain;
23 whereas the fire, in order that the righteous might be fed, even forgot its native power.
24 For creation, serving thee who hast made it, exerts itself to punish the unrighteous, and in kindness relaxes on behalf of those who trust in thee.
25 Therefore at that time also, changed into all forms, it served thy all-nourishing bounty, according to the desire of those who had need,
26 so that thy sons, whom thou didst love, O Lord, might learn that it is not the production of crops that feeds man, but that thy word preserves those who trust in thee.
27 For what was not destroyed by fire was melted when simply warmed by a fleeting ray of the sun,
28 to make it known that one must rise before the sun to give thee thanks, and must pray to thee at the dawning of the light;
29 for the hope of an ungrateful man will melt like wintry frost, and flow away like waste water.
Chapter: 17
1 Great are thy judgments and hard to describe; therefore unintructed souls have gone astray.
2 For when lawless men supposed that they held the holy nation in their power, they themselves lay as captives of darkness and prisoners of long night, shut in under their roofs, exiles from eternal providence.
3 For thinking that in their secret sins they were unobserved behind a dark curtain of forgetfulness, they were scattered, terribly alarmed, and appalled by specters.
4 For not even the inner chamber that held them protected them from fear, but terrifying sounds rang out around them, and dismal phantoms with gloomy faces appeared.
5 And no power of fire was able to give light, nor did the brilliant flames of the stars avail to illumine that hateful night.
6 Nothing was shining through to them except a dreadful, self-kindled fire, and in terror they deemed the things which they saw to be worse than that unseen appearance.
7 The delusions of their magic art lay humbled, and their boasted wisdom was scornfully rebuked.
8 For those who promised to drive off the fears and disorders of a sick soul were sick themselves with ridiculous fear.
9 For even if nothing disturbing frightened them, yet, scared by the passing of beasts and the hissing of serpents,
10 they perished in trembling fear, refusing to look even at the air, though it nowhere could be avoided.
11 For wickedness is a cowardly thing, condemned by its own testimony; distressed by conscience, it has always exaggerated the difficulties.
12 For fear is nothing but surrender of the helps that come from reason;
13 and the inner expectation of help, being weak, prefers ignorance of what causes the torment.
14 But throughout the night, which was really powerless, and which beset them from the recesses of powerless Hades, they all slept the same sleep,
15 and now were driven by monstrous specters, and now were paralyzed by their souls' surrender, for sudden and unexpected fear overwhelmed them.
16 And whoever was there fell down, and thus was kept shut up in a prison not made of iron;
17 for whether he was a farmer or a shepherd or a workman who toiled in the wilderness, he was seized, and endured the inescapable fate; for with one chain of darkness they all were bound.
18 Whether there came a whistling wind, or a melodious sound of birds in wide-spreading branches, or the rhythm of violently rushing water,
19 or the harsh crash of rocks hurled down, or the unseen running of leaping animals, or the sound of the most savage roaring beasts, or an echo thrown back from a hollow of the mountains, it paralyzed them with terror.
20 For the whole world was illumined with brilliant light, and was engaged in unhindered work,
21 while over those men alone heavy night was spread, an image of the darkness that was destined to receive them; but still heavier than darkness were they to themselves.
Chapter: 18
1 But for thy holy ones there was very great light. Their enemies heard their voices but did not see their forms, and counted them happy for not having suffered,
2 and were thankful that thy holy ones, though previously wronged, were doing them no injury; and they begged their pardon for having been at variance with them.
3 Therefore thou didst provide a flaming pillar of fire as a guide for thy people's unknown journey, and a harmless sun for their glorious wandering.
4 For their enemies deserved to be deprived of light and imprisoned in darkness, those who had kept thy sons imprisoned, through whom the imperishable light of the law was to be given to the world.
5 When they had resolved to kill the babes of thy holy ones, and one child had been exposed and rescued, thou didst in punishment take away a multitude of their children; and thou didst destroy them all together by a mighty flood.
6 That night was made known beforehand to our fathers, so that they might rejoice in sure knowledge of the oaths in which they trusted.
7 The deliverance of the righteous and the destruction of their enemies were expected by thy people.
8 For by the same means by which thou didst punish our enemies thou didst call us to thyself and glorify us.
9 For in secret the holy children of good men offered sacrifices, and with one accord agreed to the divine law, that the saints would share alike the same things, both blessings and dangers; and already they were singing the praises of the fathers.
10 But the discordant cry of their enemies echoed back, and their piteous lament for their children was spread abroad.
11 The slave was punished with the same penalty as the master, and the common man suffered the same loss as the king;
12 and they all together, by the one form of death, had corpses too many to count. For the living were not sufficient even to bury them, since in one instant their most valued children had been destroyed.
13 For though they had disbelieved everything because of their magic arts, yet, when their first-born were destroyed, they acknowledged thy people to be God's son.
14 For while gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half gone,
15 thy all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of the land that was doomed, a stern warrior
16 carrying the sharp sword of thy authentic command, and stood and filled all things with death, and touched heaven while standing on the earth.
17 Then at once apparitions in dreadful dreams greatly troubled them, and unexpected fears assailed them;
18 and one here and another there, hurled down half dead, made known why they were dying;
19 for the dreams which disturbed them forewarned them of this, so that they might not perish without knowing why they suffered.
20 The experience of death touched also the righteous, and a plague came upon the multitude in the desert, but the wrath did not long continue.
21 For a blameless man was quick to act as their champion; he brought forward the shield of his ministry, prayer and propitiation by incense; he withstood the anger and put an end to the disaster, showing that he was thy servant.
22 He conquered the wrath not by strength of body, and not by force of arms, but by his word he subdued the punisher, appealing to the oaths and covenants given to our fathers.
23 For when the dead had already fallen on one another in heaps, he intervened and held back the wrath, and cut off its way to the living.
24 For upon his long robe the whole world was depicted, and the glories of the fathers were engraved on the four rows of stones, and thy majesty on the diadem upon his head.
25 To these the destroyer yielded, these he feared; for merely to test the wrath was enough.
Chapter: 19
1 But the ungodly were assailed to the end by pitiless anger, for God knew in advance even their future actions,
2 that, though they themselves had permitted thy people to depart and hastily sent them forth, they would change their minds and pursue them.
3 For while they were still busy at mourning, and were lamenting at the graves of their dead, they reached another foolish decision, and pursued as fugitives those whom they had begged and compelled to depart.
4 For the fate they deserved drew them on to this end, and made them forget what had happened, in order that they might fill up the punishment which their torments still lacked,
5 and that thy people might experience an incredible journey, but they themselves might meet a strange death.
6 For the whole creation in its nature was fashioned anew, complying with thy commands, that thy children might be kept unharmed.
7 The cloud was seen overshadowing the camp, and dry land emerging where water had stood before, an unhindered way out of the Red Sea, and a grassy plain out of the raging waves,
8 where those protected by thy hand passed through as one nation, after gazing on marvelous wonders.
9 For they ranged like horses, and leaped like lambs, praising thee, O Lord, who didst deliver them.
10 For they still recalled the events of their sojourn, how instead of producing animals the earth brought forth gnats, and instead of fish the river spewed out vast numbers of frogs.
11 Afterward they saw also a new kind of birds, when desire led them to ask for luxurious food;
12 for, to give them relief, quails came up from the sea.
13 The punishments did not come upon the sinners without prior signs in the violence of thunder, for they justly suffered because of their wicked acts; for they practiced a more bitter hatred of strangers.
14 Others had refused to receive strangers when they came to them, but these made slaves of guests who were their benefactors.
15 And not only so, but punishment of some sort will come upon the former for their hostile reception of the aliens;
16 but the latter, after receiving them with festal celebrations, afflicted with terrible sufferings those who had already shared the same rights.
17 They were stricken also with loss of sight -- just as were those at the door of the righteous man -- when, surrounded by yawning darkness, each tried to find the way through his own door.
18 For the elements changed places with one another, as on a harp the notes vary the nature of the rhythm, while each note remains the same. This may be clearly inferred from the sight of what took place.
19 For land animals were transformed into water creatures, and creatures that swim moved over to the land.
20 Fire even in water retained its normal power, and water forgot its fire-quenching nature.
21 Flames, on the contrary, failed to consume the flesh of perishable creatures that walked among them, nor did they melt the crystalline, easily melted kind of heavenly food.
22 For in everything, O Lord, thou hast exalted and glorified thy people; and thou hast not neglected to help them at all times and in all places.