Wisdom of Solomon, chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 (Goodspeed translation) verses 1- 20 "For they did not reason soundly, but said to themselves, "Our life is short and miserable, and there is no cure when man comes to his end, and no one has been known to return from Hades. For we were born at a venture, and hereafter we shall be as though we had never existed, because the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and reason is a spark in the beating of our heart; when it is quenched, the body will turn to ashes, and the spirit will dissolve like empty air. And in time our name will be forgotten, and no one will remember what we have done, and our life will passaway like the traces of a cloud, and be scattered like mist pursued by the sun's rays and overcome by its heat. For our life is a fleeting shadow, and there is no way to recall our end, for it is sealed up and no one can bring it back. So come, let us enjoy the good things that exist, and eagerly make use of the creation as we did in our youth. Let us have our fill of costly wine and perfumes, and let us not miss the spring flowers. Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither; let none of us miss his share in our revelry; everywhere let us leave the signs of our gladness; for this is our portion and our lot. Let us oppress the upright poor; let us not spare the widow, or respect the venerable gray head of the aged. But let our strength be our law of uprightness, for weakness is proved useless. Let us lie in wait for the upright, for he inconveniences us and opposes our doings, and reproaches us with our transgressions of the Law, and charges us with sins against what we have been taught; he professes to possess knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord; we have found him a reproof of our thoughts, he is wearisome to us even to see, for his life is not like others, and his ways are strange. He considers us counterfeit, and avoids our ways as unclean. He calls the end of the upright happy, and boasts that God is his father. Let us see whether what he says is true, and let us test what will happen at his departure. For if the upright man is a son of God, he will help him, and save him from the hands of his adversaries. Let us test him with insults and torture, so that we may learn his patience, and prove his forbearance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for he will be watched over, from what he says!"

verses 21 - 24: So they reasoned, but they went astray, for their wickedness blinded them, and they did not know God's secrets, or hope for the reward of holiness, or recognize the prize of blameless souls. For God created man for immortality, and made him the image of his own eternity. But through the devil's envy death came into the world, and those who belong to his party experience it.