Wisdom 12 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

12 Lord, how good, and how sweet is thy Spirit in all things; [O! how good, and how sweet, Lord, is thy Spirit in us;]

² and therefore thou chastisest by parts these men that err; and thou admonishest, of which things they sin, and thou speakest to them, (so) that when they have forsaken (the) malice, they believe in thee, Lord. [therefore that out err in parts, thou chastisest; and of the which things they sin, thou warnest, and speakest to, that, the malice left, they believe in thee, Lord.]

³ For thou wouldest lose (or destroy) those eld [or old] dwellers of thine holy land, which thou loathest;

⁴ for they did works hateful to thee, by medicines, that is, by witchcrafts, and false divinings, and sacrifices offered to fiends, and unjust [or unrightwise] sacrifices;

⁵ and the slayers of their sons, without mercy, and eaters of (the) entrails [or of the bowels] of men, and (the) devourers of blood;

⁶ and by the hands of our fathers thou wouldest lose (or destroy) from thy middle sacrament, that is, from Judea, fathers and mothers, authors of souls, that is, of their children, unhelped; [and the fathers and the mothers, authors of the souls unhelped, lose thou wouldest not from thy middle sacrament, by the hands of their fathers and mothers;]

⁷ (so) that our fathers should take the worthy pilgrimage of God’s children, which is to thee the dearworthiest land of all.

⁸ But also thou sparedest these as men, and thou sentest wasps, the before-goers of thine host, (so) that those [or they] should destroy them (by) little and little.

⁹ Not for thou were unmighty to make wicked men subject to just men in battle, either to destroy at once, by cruel beasts, either by an hard word; [Not for thou were unmighty in battle to subject unpious men to rightwise men, or by cruel beasts, or by hard word to destroy (al)together;]

¹⁰ but thou deemedest by parts, and gavest place to penance, and knewest, that the nation of them was wayward, and their malice was kindly (or by kind), that is, made hard by long custom, and that their thought might not be changed without end. [but by parts deeming, thou gave place of penance, not unknowing, for shrewd (or depraved) is the nation of them, and kindly the malice of them, and for the thought of them might not be changed into evermore.]

¹¹ For it was a cursed seed at the beginning. And thou not dreading any man, gavest forgiveness to the sins of them. [The seed forsooth was cursed from the beginning. Not dreading any man, forgiveness thou gave to the sins of them.]

¹² For why who shall say to thee, What hast thou done? either who shall stand against thy doom? either who shall come in thy sight, to be (the) avenger of wicked men? either who shall areckon to thee, if nations perish, which thou madest? [Who forsooth shall say to thee, What madest thou? or who shall stand against thy doom? or who in thy sight shall come, venger of wicked or who shall reckon to thee, if nations perish, that thou hast made?]

¹³ For why none other than thou is God, to whom is charge of all things, that thou show, that thou deemest doom not unjustly. [Forsooth there is none other God than thou, to whom is care of all, that thou show, for not unrightwisely thou deemest doom.]

¹⁴ Neither king neither tyrant in thy sight shall inquire of these men, which thou hast lost. [Neither king nor tyrant in thy sight shall ensearch of these things, that thou hast destroyed.]

¹⁵ Therefore since thou art just, thou disposest justly all things; also father, thou condemnest him, that oweth (or ought) not to be punished^[a], and thou guessest him a stranger from thy virtue. [Since then thou art rightwise, all things rightwisely thou disposest; him also, O! father, that oweth not to be punished, condemning, and strange thou esteemest from thy virtue.]

¹⁶ For why thy virtue (or thy power) is the beginning of rightfulness; and for this (or because of this), that thou art lord (or the Lord) of all men, thou makest thee to spare all men. [Forsooth thy virtue is the beginning of rightwiseness; and for that, that of all thou art lord, to all thou makest thee to spare.]

¹⁷ For thou, that art not believed to be perfect [or full ended] in virtue (or in strength), thou showest virtue (or strength); and thou leadest over these men, that know not thee, in hardiness.

¹⁸ But thou, lord [or lordshipper] of virtue, deemest with peaceableness, and disposest us with great reverence; for it is subject to thee to be able to, when thou wilt.

¹⁹ Forsooth thou hast taught thy people by such works, that it behooveth a judge to be just, and benign, either merciful; and thou madest thy sons (to be) of good hope, for thou deemest, and givest place to (or for) penance in sins. [Forsooth thou taughtest thy people by such works, for it behoveth to be rightwise, and manly; and thou madest thy sons of good hope, for deeming thou givest place of penance in sins.]

²⁰ For it thou tormentedest the enemies of thy servants, and men due to death with so great perceiving, either attentiveness, and deliveredest, and gavest time and place [or giving time and place], by which they might be changed from malice;

²¹ with how great diligence deemest thou thy sons, to whose fathers thou gavest oaths and covenants of good promises?

²² Therefore when thou givest chastising [or discipline] to us, thou beatest [or thou scourgest] many-fold our enemies, (so) that we, (when) deeming, think (of) thy goodness; and when it is deemed of us, that we hope (for) thy mercy.

²³ Wherefore and to them, that lived unwisely, and unjustly in their life, thou gavest sovereign torments, by these things which they worshipped. [Wherefore and to them, that in their life unwisely and unrightfully lived, by those things, that they praised, that gave greatest torments.]

²⁴ For they erred full long in the way of error, and guessed to be gods these things that be superfluous in beasts, and lived by custom of young children unwittily. [Forsooth in the way of error longer they erred, esteeming gods those things that in beasts be over-vain, living by manner of unwise young children.]

²⁵ For this thing thou gavest doom, into scorn, as to children unwitty; [For that as to unwise children thou gave doom, into scorn;]

²⁶ but they, that were not amended by scornings and blamings, feeled the worthy doom of God. [who forsooth with reproves and blamings be not amended, the worthy doom of God be expert (or experienced), or feeled.]

²⁷ For they bare heavily in these things, which they suffered, in which things they suffering had indignation; they seeing him, whom they denied sometime them to know, knew him (as the) very (or the true) God, by these things which they guessed (to be) gods among them, when those were destroyed; for which thing and the end of their condemnation shall come on them. [In these things forsooth that they suffered, heavily they bare, in the which suffering they disdained; by those things that they guessed gods, in them when they were destroyed, seeing him, whom sometime they denied them to have known, very God they knew; for the which and the end of the condemning of them shall come on them.]

Footnotes

1. Wisdom 12:15 That is, punishest sometime, to (or for) (the) proving of his patience, (as) it is open(ly) (known) of saint Job.