Wisdom of Solomon 12 - Contemporary English Version Interconfessional Edition（CEVDCI）

1because your eternal spirit is in each of them.

2That's why you correct us for our sins a little at a time, as a reminder and a warning for us to turn from sin and have faith in you, our Lord.

The Sins of the People of CanaanSolomon continues praying:

3 So you don't have to prove to any other gods that you do what is right,

14and no kings or rulers can accuse you of wrongly punishing anyone.

15You are always perfectly fair, and you would never punish innocent people.

16You do what is right because you have the strength to do so, and your great power makes you merciful to everyone.

17When anyone doubts your strength, you show how strong you are, and you correct anyone who understands and still doubts.

18Although you have power to do all things, you are gentle when you judge us, and you rule us with great patience.

Lessons God Taught His PeopleSolomon continues:

19Our God, by the things you have done, you have given your people a wonderful hope and have taught them to live right and be kind because you have let them turn from evil.

20The enemies of your people deserved death, but you patiently gave them time to give up their sins, before punishing them.

21You did severely punish your people, even though you had made wonderful promises and agreements with them.

22Yes, we were punished! But our enemies were punished 10,000 times worse, so that when we judge others, we will remember your kindness, and when we are being judged, we can expect mercy.

God Punished the EgyptiansSolomon continues praying:

23The Egyptians foolishly lived a sinful life, but you punished them by using those disgusting creatures they worshiped.

24In fact, they had gone so far from the truth that they were like senseless children, worshiping the most worthless animals.

25And so you made them look like stupid children, when you punished them.

26Those who failed to take this warning seriously then received from you the punishment they deserved.

27While they were being punished because of the creatures they had worshiped, they became angry with those creatures and finally realized that you are the only true God, even though they had always refused to worship you. All this explains why they were punished so terribly.