1 For Your immortal Spirit is in all things.
2 For this reason You correct little by little those who fall away, And You remind and warn them of the sins they commit So they may be freed from evil and believe in You, O Lord.
3 For You hated the inhabitants of Your holy land long ago,
4 Because they practiced very hateful works of sorcery and unholy rites.
5 These unmerciful murderers of children Who ate sacrificial meals of human flesh and blood, These initiates in the midst of an orgy ,
6 These parents and murderers of helpless children You willed to destroy by the hands of our fathers,
7 That the land most precious of all to You Might be a worthy colony of the servants of God.
8 But even these You spared, since they were men, And sent wasps as forerunners of Your army that You might destroy them little by little.
9 You were not powerless to give the ungodly to the righteous in regular battle, Or to destroy them by terrible wild beasts Or by one severe word;
10 But judging them little by little You gave them a chance for repentance, For You were not unaware that their generation was evil, Their vice implanted, and their reasoning would not change forever.
11 For they were an accursed seed from the beginning, Nor did You give them amnesty for their sins Because You feared any one.
12 For who will say, “What have You done?” Or who will oppose Your judgment? Who will bring a charge against You For destroying the nations You made? Or who will stand before You To plead as an advocate for unrighteous men?
13 For neither is there any god except You, Whose care is for all things, So You may show that You do not judge unjustly;
14 Nor can any king or tyrant meet You face to face Concerning those You punish.
15 You are righteous and order all things uprightly, And You consider it alien to Your power to pass sentence on him who should not be punished.
16 For Your strength is the origin of righteousness, And it causes You who are the Lord of all to spare all.
17 For to him who disbelieves the perfection of Your power, You show forth Your strength and rebuke the insolence among those who know it.
18 But You who gain the mastery by Your strength Judge with gentleness, For You govern us with great forbearance; And power is present with You to use when You will it.
19 Through such works You taught Your people That the righteous man should love mankind; And You made Your children hopeful By offering them repentance over their sins.
20 For if You punished the enemies of Your children And those liable to death with so much attention and deliberation, And granted them time and opportunity to depart from their evil,
21 With how much strictness did You judge Your children, To whose fathers You gave oaths and covenants of good promises?
22 So then You chastened us, But our enemies with ten thousand whips, That we may care about Your goodness when we judge But expect Your mercy when we are judged.
23 Therefore those who lived unjustly in their foolishness of life You tormented by means of their own abominations.
24 For they went far astray on the paths of error, Taking up gods which were despised even among their enemies, Being deceived after the manner of foolish children.
25 Therefore to those thoughtless children You sent Your judgment to mock them;
26 But those who were not warned by this light gesture of censure will be put to the test by the deserved judgment of God.
27 For when they suffered, they were indignant at those they imagined to be gods, Realizing they were being punished because of them. They also came to recognize the true God Whom they refused to know long ago; Therefore, the utmost of condemnation came upon them.