First ReadingWisdom 2:1a, 12-22
From the Book of Wisdom
1For they said within themselves, with unsound reasoning,“Our life is short and sorrowful.There is no healing when a man comes to his end,and no one was ever known who was released from Hades. verses 2–11 are not read12But let’s lie in wait for the righteous man,because he annoys us,is contrary to our works,reproaches us with sins against the law,and charges us with sins against our training.13He professes to have knowledge of God,and calls himself a child of the Lord.14He became to us a reproof of our thoughts.15He is grievous to us even to look at,because his life is unlike other men’s,and his paths are strange.16We were regarded by him as something worthless,and he abstains from our ways as from uncleanness.He calls the latter end of the righteous happy.He boasts that God is his father.17Let’s see if his words are true.Let’s test what will happen at the end of his life.18For if the righteous man is God’s son, he will uphold him,and he will deliver him out of the hand of his adversaries.19Let’s test him with insult and torture,that we may find out how gentle he is,and test his patience.20Let’s condemn him to a shameful death,for he will be protected, according to his words.”21Thus they reasoned, and they were led astray;for their wickedness blinded them,22and they didn’t know the mysteries of God,neither did they hope for wages of holiness,nor did they discern that there is a prize for blameless souls.