A reading from
the Book of Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22
The wicked said among themselves,/ thinking not aright:/ “Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;/ he sets himself against our doings,/ Reproaches us for transgressions of the law/ and charges us with violations of our training./ He professes to have knowledge of God/ and styles himself a child of the Lord./ To us he is the censure of our thoughts;/ merely to see him is a hardship for us,/ Because his life is not like that of others,/ and different are his ways./ He judges us debased;/ he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure./ He calls blest the destiny of the just/ and boasts that God is his Father./ Let us see whether his words be true;/ let us find out what will happen to him./ For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him/ and deliver him from the hand of his foes./ With revilement and torture let us put him to the test/ that we may have proof of his gentleness/ and try his patience./ Let us condemn him to a shameful death;/ for according to his own words, God will take care of him.”/ These were their thoughts, but they erred;/ for their wickedness blinded them,/ and they knew not the hidden counsels of God;/ neither did they count on a recompense of holiness/ nor discern the innocent souls’ reward.
The word of the Lord.
