God’s Punishment of Sinners
16 Do not desire a multitude of worthless[a] children,
and do not rejoice in ungodly offspring.
2 If they multiply, do not rejoice in them,
unless the fear of the Lord is in them.
3 Do not trust in their survival
or rely on their numbers,[b]
for one can be better than a thousand,
and to die childless is better than to have ungodly children.(A)
4 For through one intelligent person a city can be filled with people,
but through a clan of outlaws it becomes desolate.
5 Many such things my eye has seen,
and my ear has heard things more striking than these.
6 In an assembly of sinners a fire is kindled,
and in a disobedient nation wrath has blazed up.(B)
7 He did not forgive the ancient giants[c]
who revolted in their might.(C)
8 He did not spare the neighbors of Lot,
whom he loathed on account of their arrogance.(D)
9 He showed no pity on the doomed nation,
on those dispossessed because of their sins,[d]
10 or on the six hundred thousand foot soldiers
who assembled in their stubbornness.[e](E)
11 Even if there were only one stiff-necked person,
it would be a wonder if he remained unpunished.
For mercy and wrath are with the Lord;[f]
he acquits and forgives,[g] but he also pours out wrath.(F)
12 Great as is his mercy, so also is his chastisement;
he judges people according to their deeds.(G)
13 The sinner will not escape with plunder,
and the patience of the godly will not be frustrated.
14 He makes room for every act of almsgiving;
everyone receives in accordance with his or her deeds.[h](H)
17 Do not say, “I am hidden from the Lord,
and who from on high has me in mind?
Among so many people I am unknown,
for what am I in a boundless creation?(I)
18 Look, heaven and the highest heaven,
the abyss and the earth tremble at his visitation
19 Together the mountains and the foundations of the earth
shake and tremble when he looks upon them.(K)
20 But no human mind can grasp this,
and who can comprehend his ways?(L)
21 Like a tempest that no one can see,
so most of his works are concealed.[j](M)
22 Who is to announce his acts of justice?
Or who can await them? For his decree[k] is far off.”[l]
23 Such are the thoughts of one devoid of understanding;
a senseless and misguided person thinks foolishly.
God’s Wisdom Seen in Creation
24 Listen to me, my child, and acquire knowledge,
and pay close attention to my words.(N)
25 I will impart discipline precisely[m]
and declare knowledge accurately.(O)
26 When the Lord created[n] his works from the beginning
and, in making them, determined their boundaries,
27 he arranged their works in an eternal order
and their dominion[o] for all generations.
They neither hunger nor grow weary,
and they do not abandon their tasks.(P)
28 They do not crowd one another,
and they never disobey his word.
29 Then the Lord looked upon the earth
and filled it with his good things.(Q)
30 With all kinds of living beings he covered its surface,
and into it they must return.(R)
Footnotes
- 16.1Heb: Gk unprofitable
- 16.3Other ancient authorities add for you will groan in untimely mourning, and will know of their sudden end
- 16.7Gk: Heb princes
- 16.9Other ancient authorities add all these things he did to the hard-hearted nations, and by the multitude of his holy ones he was not appeased
- 16.10Other ancient authorities add chastising, showing mercy, striking, healing, the Lord persisted in mercy and discipline
- 16.11Gk him
- 16.11Heb: Gk a master of propitiations
- 16.14Other ancient authorities add 16.15–16: The Lord hardened Pharaoh so that he did not recognize him, in order that his works might be known under heaven. His mercy is manifest to the whole of creation, and he apportioned his light and darkness to Adam.
- 16.18Other ancient authorities add The whole world past and present is in his will.
- 16.21Meaning of Gk uncertain: Heb Syr If I sin, no eye can see me, and if I am disloyal all in secret, who is to know?
- 16.22Heb: Gk the covenant
- 16.22Other ancient authorities add and a scrutiny for all comes at the end
- 16.25Gk by weight
- 16.26Heb: Gk judged
- 16.27Or elements
Cross references
- 16.3 : Wis 4.1
- 16.6 : Num 11.1; Ps 78.21; Sir 21.9
- 16.7 : Wis 14.6
- 16.8 : Gen 19.24, 25; Ezek 16.49, 50
- 16.10 : Ex 12.37; Num 14.35; 26.51
- 16.11 : Sir 5.4
- 16.12 : Job 34.11
- 16.14 : Job 34.11; Sir 51.30
- 16.17 : Ps 138.7
- 16.18 : 1 Kings 8.27; Mic 1.3, 4; 2 Pet 3.7, 10
- 16.19 : Ps 18.7; 104.32; Isa 24.18
- 16.20 : Rom 11.33
- 16.21 : Ps 97.2; Prov 25.2; Sir 43.32
- 16.24 : Prov 4.20
- 16.25 : Wis 11.20
- 16.27 : Sir 42.21
- 16.29 : Gen 1.29–31
- 16.30 : Gen 1.25; Eccl 3.20