Anonymous (Septuagint) · a new plain-English translation from the original language
1| For they said among themselves, reasoning wrongly, "Our life is short and full of grief, and there is no cure when a man comes to his end, and no one has been known to return from Hades.
2| For we were born by mere chance, and afterward it will be as if we never existed at all; the breath within our nostrils is mere smoke, and thought itself is a spark set ablaze by our heart's pulsing,
3| and when it is quenched, the body will turn to ashes, and the spirit will dissolve like empty air.
4| Our name will be forgotten in time, and no one will remember our deeds; our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud, and will be scattered like a mist chased by the sun's rays and weighed down by its heat.
5| For our lifetime is the passing of a shadow, and there is no turning back from our end, for it has been sealed, and no one returns.
6| Come, then, let us enjoy the good things that exist, and let us use creation eagerly, as in youth.
7| Let us drink our fill of expensive wine and fragrant oils, and let no springtime blossom slip past us unused;
8| let us wreathe our heads with rosebuds before they fade.
9| Let none of us go without a share in our revelry; everywhere let us leave tokens of our joy, for this is our portion, and this our lot.
10| Let us oppress the righteous poor man; let us show no mercy to the widow, nor honor the grey, long-worn hairs of old age.
11| But let our strength be the law of what is right, for weakness is proved useless.
12| Let us set an ambush for the righteous man, because he is a nuisance to us, and stands against our deeds, and reproaches us for sins against the law, and charges us with sins against our upbringing.
13| He claims to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord.
14| He has become a reproof to our very thoughts; the mere sight of him is a burden to us,
15| for his life is unlike that of others, and his paths are strange.
16| He counts us as counterfeit coin, and holds himself apart from our ways as from uncleanness; he calls the end of the righteous blessed, and boasts that God is his father.
17| Let us see whether his words are true, and let us test what will happen to him in the end.
18| For if the righteous man is God's son, God will take his part, and will rescue him from the hand of his adversaries.
19| Let us test him with insult and torture, so that we may learn his gentleness and judge his patient endurance.
20| Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for according to his own words, he will be watched over."
21| These things they reasoned, and they were led astray, for their wickedness blinded them,
22| and they did not know the mysteries of God, nor did they hope for the reward of holiness, nor did they discern the prize that awaits blameless souls.
23| For God created man for incorruption, and made him in the image of his own eternal nature;
24| but through the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and those who belong to his portion put it to the test.