1Then the righteous will stand with great confidence[#Lk 21.36]
in the presence of those who have oppressed them
and those who make light of their labors.
2When the unrighteous see them, they will be shaken with dreadful fear,[#2 Esd 9.9; Lk 13.28; #5.2 Gk they]
and they will be amazed at the unexpected salvation of the righteous.
3They will speak to one another in repentance,[#2 Esd 16.19; Rom 8.35]
and in anguish of spirit they will groan,
4“These are persons whom we once held in derision[#Ps 69.11; Jer 24.9; Wis 3.2; 4.17; Acts 26.24]
and made a byword of reproach—fools that we were!
We thought that their lives were madness
and that their end was without honor.
5Why have they been numbered among the children of God?
And why is their lot among the holy ones?
6So it was we who strayed from the way of truth,[#Jn 3.19; 12.35]
and the light of righteousness did not shine on us,
and the sun did not rise upon us.
7We took our fill of the paths of lawlessness and destruction,[#Job 12.24; Ps 107.40]
and we journeyed through trackless deserts,
but the way of the Lord we have not known.
8What has our arrogance profited us?
And what good has our boasted wealth brought us?
9“All those things have vanished like a shadow[#Wis 2.5]
and like a rumor that passes by;
10like a ship that sails through the billowy water,[#Job 9.26]
and when it has passed no trace can be found,
no track of its keel in the waves;
11or as, when a bird flies through the air,[#Job 9.26; Prov 30.19]
no evidence of its passage is found;
the light air, lashed by the beat of its pinions
and pierced by the force of its rushing flight,
is traversed by the movement of its wings,
and afterward no sign of its coming is found there;
12or as, when an arrow is shot at a target,[#v 21]
the air, thus divided, comes together at once,
so that no one knows its pathway.
13So we also, as soon as we were 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 thistledown carried by the wind[#Job 21.18; Ps 68.2; Jas 1.10, 11; #5.14 Other ancient authorities read dust]
and like a light frost driven away by a storm;
it is dispersed like smoke before the wind,
and it passes like the remembrance of a guest who stays but a day.
15But the righteous live forever,[#Gen 15.1; Rev 22.12]
and their reward is with the Lord;
the Most High takes care of them.
16Therefore they will receive a glorious crown[#Isa 28.5; 62.3; Wis 19.8; 1 Pet 5.4]
and a beautiful diadem from the hand of the Lord,
because with his right hand he will cover them,
and with his arm he will shield them.
17The Lord will take his zeal as his whole armor[#v 20 ; Eph 6.13–17; #5.17 Gk He]
and will arm all creation to repel his enemies;
18he will put on righteousness as a breastplate[#Isa 59.17, 18; Eph 6.14; 1 Thess 5.8]
and wear impartial justice as a helmet;
19he will take holiness as an invincible shield[#Eph 6.16]
20and sharpen stern wrath for a sword,[#Sir 39.23–30; Heb 4.12]
and the world will join him to fight against the senseless.
21Shafts of lightning will fly with true aim[#v 12 ; Ps 7.12, 13; 2 Esd 16.13]
and will leap from the clouds to the target, as from a well-drawn bow,
22and hailstones full of wrath will be hurled as from a catapult;[#Gen 6.17; Josh 10.11; Judg 5.21]
the water of the sea will rage against them,
and rivers will relentlessly overwhelm them;
23a mighty wind will rise against them,[#Isa 41.16; Lk 1.52]
and like a tempest it will winnow them away.
Lawlessness will lay waste the whole earth,
and evildoing will overturn the thrones of rulers.