1. Then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness Before the face of them that afflicted him, And them that make his labors of no account.
2. When they see it, they shall be troubled with terrible fear, And shall be amazed at the marvel of God’s salvation.
3. They shall say within themselves repenting, And for distress of spirit shall they groan, This was he whom aforetime we had in derision, And made a parable of reproach:
4. We fools accounted his life madness, And his end without honor:
5. How was he counted among sons of God? And how is his lot among saints?
6. Verily we went astray from the way of truth, And the light of righteousness shined not for us, And the sun rose not for us.
7. We took our fill of the paths of lawlessness and destruction, And we journeyed through trackless deserts, But the way of the Lord we knew not.
8. What did our arrogancy profit us? And what good have riches and vaunting brought us?
9. Those things all passed away as a shadow, And as a message that runs by:
10. As a ship passing through the billowy water, Whereof, when it is gone by, there is no trace to be found, Neither pathway of its keel in the billows:
11. Or as when a bird flieth through the air, No token of her passage is found, But the light wind, lashed with the stroke of her pinions, And tore asunder with the violent rush of the moving wings, is passed through, And afterwards no sign of her coming is found therein:
12. Or as when an arrow is shot at a mark, The air disparted closeth up again immediately, So that men know not where it passed through: