1 Then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness
Before the face of them that afflicted him,
And them that make his labors of no account.
2 When they seeit, they shall be troubled with terrible fear,
And shall be amazed at the marvel ofGod’ssalvation.
3 They shall saywithin themselves repenting,
And for distress of spirit shall they groan,
This was he whom aforetime we had in derision,
Andmadea parable ofreproach:
4 We fools accounted his life madness,
And his end without honor:
5 How was he counted among sons of God?
Andhowis his lot among saints?
6 Verily we went astray from the way of truth,
And the light of righteousness shined not for us,
And the sun rose not for us.
7 Wetook our fill of the paths of lawlessness and destruction,
And we journeyed through trackless deserts,
But the way of the Lord we knew not.
8 What did our arrogancy profit us?
And what good have richesand vaunting brought us?
9 Those things all passed away as a shadow,
And as a message that runs by:
10 As a ship passing through the billowy water,
Whereof, when it is gone by, there is no trace to be found,
Neither pathway of its keel in the billows:
11 Or as when a bird flieth through the air,
No token ofherpassage is found,
But the light wind, lashed with the stroke of her pinions,
And tore asunderwith the violent rush of the moving wings, is passed through,
And afterwards no sign ofhercoming is found therein:
12 Or as when an arrow is shot at a mark,
The air disparted closeth up again immediately,
So that men know not where it passed through:
13 So we also, as soon as we were born,ceased to be;
And of virtue we had no sign to show,
But in our wickedness we were utterly consumed.
14 Because the hope of the ungodly man is as chaff carried by the wind,
Andasfoam vanishing before a tempest;
And is scattered as smokeis scatteredby the wind,
And passes by as the remembrance of a guest that waits but a day.
15 But the righteous live for ever,
And in the Lord is their reward,
And the care for them with the Most High.
16 Therefore shall they receive the crown of royal dignity
And the diadem of beauty from the Lord’s hand;
Because with his right hand shall he cover them,
And with his arm shall he shield them.
17 He shall take his jealousy as complete armor,
And shall make thewholecreation his weaponsfor vengeance onhisenemies:
18 He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate,
And shall array himself with judgement unfeigned as with a helmet;
19 He shall take holiness as an invincible shield,
20 And he shall sharpen stern wrath for a sword:
And the world shall go forth with him to fight againsthisinsensatefoes.
21 Shafts of lightning shall fly with true aim,
And from the clouds, as from a well drawn bow, shall they leap to the mark.
22 Andasfrom an engine of war shall be hurled hailstones full of wrath;
The water of the sea shall be angered against them,
And rivers shall sternly overwhelm them;
23 A mighty blast shall encounter them,
And as a tempest shall it winnow them away:
Andsoshall lawlessness make all the land desolate,
And their evil-doing shall overturn the thrones of princes.