The Wisdom of Solomon, Chapter 11ΣΟΦΙΑ ΣΟΛΟΜΩΝΤΟΣ ΙΑ′

εὐόδωσεν τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν ἐν χειρὶ προφήτου ἁγίου

He prospered their works by the hand of a holy prophet.

διώδευσαν ἔρημον ἀοίκητον καὶ ἐν ἀβάτοις ἔπηξαν σκηνάς

They journeyed through an uninhabited wilderness, and in trackless places they pitched their tents.

ἀντέστησαν πολεμίοις καὶ ἐχθροὺς ἠμύναντο

They stood against enemies and repelled foes.

ἐδίψησαν καὶ ἐπεκαλέσαντό σε καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς ἐκ πέτρας ἀκροτόμου ὕδωρ καὶ ἴαμα δίψης ἐκ λίθου σκληροῦ

They thirsted and called upon you, and water was given to them from sheer rock, and a remedy for thirst from hard stone.

δι' ὧν γὰρ ἐκολάσθησαν οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτῶν διὰ τούτων αὐτοὶ ἀποροῦντες εὐεργετήθησαν

For by the very things through which their enemies were punished, by these same things they themselves, when in need, were benefited.

ἀντὶ μὲν πηγῆς ἀενάου ποταμοῦ αἵματι λυθρώδει ταραχθέντος

Instead of the ever-flowing fountain of a river muddied with foul blood,

εἰς ἔλεγχον νηπιοκτόνου διατάγματος ἔδωκας αὐτοῖς δαψιλὲς ὕδωρ ἀνελπίστως

for a rebuke of the decree that killed infants, you gave them abundant water unexpectedly,

δείξας διὰ τοῦ τότε δίψους πῶς τοὺς ὑπεναντίους ἐκόλασας

showing through the thirst they then had how you punished their adversaries.

ὅτε γὰρ ἐπειράσθησαν καίπερ ἐν ἐλέει παιδευόμενοι ἔγνωσαν πῶς μετ' ὀργῆς κρινόμενοι ἀσεβεῖς ἐβασανίζοντο

For when they were tested, though being disciplined with mercy, they learned how the ungodly, when judged in wrath, were tormented.

τούτους μὲν γὰρ ὡς πατὴρ νουθετῶν ἐδοκίμασας ἐκείνους δὲ ὡς ἀπότομος βασιλεὺς καταδικάζων ἐξήτασας

For these you tested as a father admonishing them, but those you examined as a stern king condemning them.

καὶ ἀπόντες δὲ καὶ παρόντες ὁμοίως ἐτρύχοντο

And whether absent or present, they were afflicted alike.

διπλῆ γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἔλαβεν λύπη καὶ στεναγμὸς μνημῶν τῶν παρελθόντων

For a double grief seized them, and groaning at the memory of the things that had happened before.

ὅτε γὰρ ἤκουσαν διὰ τῶν ἰδίων κολάσεων εὐεργετημένους αὐτούς ᾔσθοντο τοῦ κυρίου

For when they heard that through their own punishments those others had been benefited, they perceived the Lord.

ὃν γὰρ ἐν ἐκθέσει πάλαι ῥιφέντα ἀπεῖπον χλευάζοντες ἐπὶ τέλει τῶν ἐκβάσεων ἐθαύμασαν οὐχ ὅμοια δικαίοις διψήσαντες

For the one whom long ago they exposed and cast out, rejecting him with mockery, at the end of events they marveled at, after thirsting in a way unlike the righteous.

ἀντὶ δὲ λογισμῶν ἀσυνέτων ἀδικίας αὐτῶν ἐν οἷς πλανηθέντες ἐθρήσκευον ἄλογα ἑρπετὰ καὶ κνώδαλα εὐτελῆ ἐπαπέστειλας αὐτοῖς πλῆθος ἀλόγων ζῴων εἰς ἐκδίκησιν

And in return for the senseless thoughts of their unrighteousness, in which, having been led astray, they worshiped irrational creeping things and worthless beasts, you sent upon them a multitude of irrational animals for vengeance,

ἵνα γνῶσιν ὅτι δι' ὧν τις ἁμαρτάνει διὰ τούτων κολάζεται

so that they might know that by the things through which one sins, by these he is punished.

οὐ γὰρ ἠπόρει ἡ παντοδύναμός σου χεὶρ καὶ κτίσασα τὸν κόσμον ἐξ ἀμόρφου ὕλης ἐπιπέμψαι αὐτοῖς πλῆθος ἄρκων ἢ θρασεῖς λέοντας

For your all-powerful hand, which created the world out of formless matter, was not unable to send upon them a multitude of bears or fierce lions,

ἢ νεοκτίστους θυμοῦ πλήρεις θῆρας ἀγνώστους ἤτοι πυρπνόον φυσῶντας ἄσθμα ἢ βρόμον λικμωμένους καπνοῦ ἢ δεινοὺς ἀπ' ὀμμάτων σπινθῆρας ἀστράπτοντας

or newly created beasts, full of rage, unknown before, breathing out fiery breath, or belching smoke, or flashing terrible sparks from their eyes,

ὧν οὐ μόνον ἡ βλάβη ἠδύνατο συνεκτρῖψαι αὐτούς ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ ὄψις ἐκφοβήσασα διολέσαι

whose harm not only had power to crush them, but whose very appearance, terrifying them, could destroy them.

καὶ χωρὶς δὲ τούτων ἑνὶ πνεύματι πεσεῖν ἐδύναντο ὑπὸ τῆς δίκης διωχθέντες καὶ λικμηθέντες ὑπὸ πνεύματος δυνάμεώς σου ἀλλὰ πάντα μέτρῳ καὶ ἀριθμῷ καὶ σταθμῷ διέταξας

And even apart from these they could have fallen by one breath, being pursued by justice and winnowed by the breath of your power; but you arranged all things by measure and number and weight.

τὸ γὰρ μεγάλως ἰσχύειν σοι πάρεστιν πάντοτε καὶ κράτει βραχίονός σου τίς ἀντιστήσεται

For great power is always present to you, and who can withstand the might of your arm?

ὅτι ὡς ῥοπὴ ἐκ πλαστίγγων ὅλος ὁ κόσμος ἐναντίον σου καὶ ὡς ῥανὶς δρόσου ὀρθρινὴ κατελθοῦσα ἐπὶ γῆν

For the whole world before you is like a tilt of scales, and like a drop of morning dew that has come down upon the earth.

ἐλεεῖς δὲ πάντας ὅτι πάντα δύνασαι καὶ παρορᾷς ἁμαρτήματα ἀνθρώπων εἰς μετάνοιαν

But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things, and you overlook the sins of human beings for the sake of repentance.

ἀγαπᾷς γὰρ τὰ ὄντα πάντα καὶ οὐδὲν βδελύσσῃ ὧν ἐποίησας οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν μισῶν τι κατεσκεύασας

For you love all things that exist, and you loathe none of the things you made; for you would not have fashioned anything if you had hated it.

πῶς δὲ διέμεινεν ἄν τι εἰ μὴ σὺ ἠθέλησας ἢ τὸ μὴ κληθὲν ὑπὸ σοῦ διετηρήθη

And how would anything have endured if you had not willed it, or how would what had not been called by you have been preserved?

φείδῃ δὲ πάντων ὅτι σά ἐστιν δέσποτα φιλόψυχε

But you spare all things, because they are yours, Master who loves life.