1Then the righteous one will stand with great confidence before those who afflicted him and scorned his labors.
2When they see him, they will be shaken with terrible fear, and they will be astounded at the unexpectedness of his salvation.
3Repenting, they will say among themselves, and groaning in anguish of spirit, “This was the one whom we once held as a laughingstock and a byword of reproach,
4we fools! We considered his life madness and his end dishonorable.
5How has he been numbered among the sons of God, and his lot is among the holy ones?”
6So then, we have strayed from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness did not shine for us, and the sun did not rise for us.
7We have had our fill of the paths of lawlessness and destruction, and we journeyed through pathless deserts, but the way of the Lord we did not know.
8What has arrogance profited us? And what has wealth with its boasting contributed to us?
9All those things have passed away like a shadow, and like a message hurrying by;
10like a ship passing through surging water, of which, when it has passed by, no trace can be found, nor a path of its keel in the waves;
11or like a bird flying through the air, of whose passage no evidence is found; the light air, beaten by the stroke of its pinions and cleft by the violent rush of its moving wings, is traveled through, and after this no sign of its passing is found in it;
12or like an arrow shot at a target, the air that was cut immediately closes up again, so that its path is unknown.
13So we also, once born, ceased to be, and we had no sign of virtue to show, but were consumed in our wickedness.
14Because the hope of the ungodly is like chaff carried by the wind, and like a light frost driven away by a storm, and like smoke dispersed by the wind, and it passes by like the memory of a guest who stays for a single day.
15But the righteous live forever, and their reward is in the Lord, and their care is with the Most High.
16Therefore they will receive the kingdom of majesty and the diadem of beauty from the hand of the Lord, because with his right hand he will protect them, and with his arm he will shield them.
17He will take his zeal as a full suit of armor, and he will arm creation for vengeance on his enemies.
18He will put on righteousness as a breastplate, and wear impartial judgment as a helmet.
19He will take holiness as an unconquerable shield,
20and he will sharpen his stern wrath into a sword, and the world will wage war with him against the senseless.
21Well-aimed bolts of lightning will go forth, and from the clouds, as from a well-drawn bow, they will leap to the target.
22And from the catapult of his wrath, hailstones will be hurled in full measure. The water of the sea will be enraged against them, and rivers will relentlessly overwhelm them.
23A mighty wind will stand against them, and like a whirlwind it will winnow them. Lawlessness will lay waste the whole earth, and evildoing will overturn the thrones of rulers.
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