1For your immortal spirit is in all things.[#Num 16.22; Wis 1.7]
2Therefore you correct little by little those who trespass,[#v 10 ; Wis 6.9; 11.16]
and you remind and warn them of the things through which they sin,
so that they may be freed from wickedness and put their trust in you, O Lord.
3Those who lived long ago in your holy land
4you hated for their detestable practices,[#Deut 18.10–12; Gal 5.20; Rev 9.21; 18.23]
their works of sorcery and unholy rites,
5their merciless slaughter of children,[#Lev 18.21; Wis 14.23; #12.5 Gk slaughterers]
and their sacrificial feasting on human flesh and blood.
These initiates from the midst of a bloody revelry,
6these parents who murder helpless lives,[#Lev 18.21; Wis 14.23]
you willed to destroy by the hands of our ancestors,
7so that the land most precious of all to you[#Deut 11.12]
might receive a worthy colony of the children of God.
8But even these you spared, since they were but mortals,[#Ex 23.30; Deut 7.22; Josh 24.12]
and sent wasps as forerunners of your army
to destroy them little by little,
9though you were not unable to give the ungodly into the hands of the righteous in battle[#Wis 11.17]
or to destroy them at one blow by dread wild animals or your stern word.
10But judging them little by little you gave them an opportunity to repent,[#Ex 23.30; Deut 7.22; Wis 3.12]
though you were not unaware that their origin was evil
and their wickedness inborn
and that their way of thinking would never change.
11For their offspring were accursed from the beginning,[#Gen 9.25]
and it was not through fear of anyone that you left them unpunished for their sins.
12For who will say, “What have you done?”[#Job 36.23; Rom 8.33; 9.20]
or will resist your judgment?
Who will accuse you for the destruction of nations that you made?
Or who will come before you to plead as an advocate for the unrighteous?
13For neither is there any god besides you whose care is for all people,[#Deut 32.39; Wis 6.7; 1 Pet 5.7; #12.13 Or all things]
to whom you should prove that you have not judged unjustly,
14nor can any king or monarch confront you about those whom you have punished.
15You are righteous, and you rule all things righteously,[#Gen 18.25; Job 10.2, 3]
deeming it alien to your power
to condemn anyone who does not deserve to be punished.
16For your strength is the source of righteousness,[#Wis 11.23, 26]
and your sovereignty over all causes you to spare all.
17For you show your strength when people doubt the completeness of your power,[#Ex 5.2; 2 Kings 18.35]
and you rebuke any insolence among those who know it.
18Although you are sovereign in strength, you judge fairly,[#Ps 135.6; Wis 2.19; 11.26]
and with great forbearance you govern us,
for you have power to act whenever you choose.
19Through such works you have taught your people[#Lk 6.35, 36]
that the righteous must be kind,
and you have filled your children with good hope,
because you give repentance for sins.
20For if you punished with such great care and indulgence[#Rom 9.22–24; #12.20 Other ancient authorities lack and indulgence ; others read and entreaty]
the enemies of your children and those deserving of death,
granting them time and opportunity to give up their wickedness,
21with what strictness you have judged your children,[#Deut 7.8, 13, 17; Rom 9.4, 5; #12.21 Gk sons]
to whose ancestors you gave oaths and covenants full of good promises!
22So while chastening us you scourge our enemies ten thousand times more,[#Mt 5.7; 7.2]
so that when we judge we may meditate upon your goodness,
and when we are judged we may expect mercy.
23Therefore those who lived unrighteously, in a life of folly,[#1 Kings 11.5, 7; 2 Kings 23.13; Wis 11.15, 16]
you tormented through their own abominations.
24For they went far astray on the paths of error,[#Wis 11.15, 16; 16.1; Rom 1.22, 23]
accepting as gods those animals that even their enemies despised;
they were deceived like foolish infants.
25Therefore, as though to children who cannot reason,
you sent your judgment to mock them.
26But those who have not heeded the warning of mild rebukes
will experience the deserved judgment of God.
27For when in their suffering they became incensed[#v 23 ; Ex 5.2; 9.27; 10.16; Wis 16.1, 16]
at those creatures that they had thought to be gods, being punished by means of them,
they saw and recognized as the true God the one whom they had before refused to know.
Therefore the utmost condemnation came upon them.