The immortality of the just (Wis 3: 1-3:6)

“The souls of the righteous

Are in the hand of God.

No torment will ever touch them.

In the eyes of the foolish

They seemed to have died.

Their departure was thought

To be an affliction.

Their going from us was thought

To be their destruction.

But they are at peace.

Though in the sight of others,

They were punished.

Their hope is full of immortality.

Having been disciplined a little,

They will receive great good.

God tested them.

God found them worthy of himself.

Like gold in the furnace

He tried them.

Like a sacrificial burnt offering

He accepted them.”

The souls of the righteous (δίκαιον δὲ ψυχαι) or just ones are in the hands of God (ἐν χειρὶ Θεοῦ). What a great thought! They have no more torments. In the eyes of the foolish, they seem to have died. The fools thought that it was a disaster and destruction, but they are at peace (εἰρήνῃ). They seem to have been punished, but their hope is in full immortality (ἡ ἐλπὶς αὐτῶν ἀθανασίας πλήρης), the opposite of dead, fully non-dead. Once again, we have the idea that the just do not die. They were disciplined a little, but they received a great good. They were tested but found worthy. They were like gold in a furnace or an accepted sacrificial offering.