Wisdom 3

How to read these pages: the text itself comes first, verse by verse, in the volume's own translation. Beneath each verse stands its Meaning — a rendering of what the passage's terms name in the inner life, drawn from the correspondences the text itself uses. The text is never altered; the meaning is offered, not imposed.

King James Version

1But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them.

But the soul-states of the right-ordered are in the hand of the Source, and there shall no torment touch them.

2In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery,

In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery,

3And their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace.

And their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace — rest within the order.

4For though they be punished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality.

For though they be chastised in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality.

5And having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded: for God proved them, and found them worthy for himself.

And having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded: for the Source proved them, and found them worthy for Himself.

6As gold in the furnace hath he tried them, and received them as a burnt offering.

As gold in the furnace He has tried them, and received them as a burnt offering — the whole state yielded up, nothing kept back.

7And in the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stubble.

And in the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stubble — the spent husks of the old growth.

8They shall judge the nations, and have dominion over the people, and their Lord shall reign for ever.

They shall judge the nations — the gathered states — and have rightful rule over the people, and their indwelling LORD shall reign for ever.

9They that put their trust in him shall understand the truth: and such as be faithful in love shall abide with him: for grace and mercy is to his saints, and he hath care for his elect.

They that put their trust in Him shall understand the truth: and such as are faithful in love shall abide with Him: for grace — the unmerited inflow of divine life — and mercy is to His saints, the states set apart to Him, and He has care for His chosen.

10But the ungodly shall be punished according to their own imaginations, which have neglected the righteous, and forsaken the Lord.

But the godless shall be settled according to their own imaginations, which have neglected the right-ordered state, and forsaken the indwelling LORD.

11For whoso despiseth wisdom and nurture, he is miserable, and their hope is vain, their labours unfruitful, and their works unprofitable:

For whoso despises Wisdom — the divine Love-Wisdom of the Source, ordering all things — and nurture, the training that forms a state, he is miserable, and their hope is vain, their labours unfruitful, and their works unprofitable:

12Their wives are foolish, and their children wicked:

Their wives — the affection-faculties joined to them — are foolish, and their children — the states they beget — are twisted from the order:

13Their offspring is cursed. Wherefore blessed is the barren that is undefiled, which hath not known the sinful bed: she shall have fruit in the visitation of souls.

Their offspring is cursed. Wherefore blessed is the barren state that is undefiled, which has not known the error-bound bed: she shall have fruit in the visitation of soul-states.

14And blessed is the eunuch, which with his hands hath wrought no iniquity, nor imagined wicked things against God: for unto him shall be given the special gift of faith, and an inheritance in the temple of the Lord more acceptable to his mind.

And blessed is the eunuch — the faculty cut off from begetting error — which with his hands has wrought no disorder, nor imagined twisted things against the Source: for unto him shall be given the special gift of faith, and an inheritance in the temple of the LORD — the established sanctuary-state — more acceptable to his mind.

15For glorious is the fruit of good labours: and the root of wisdom shall never fall away.

For glorious is the fruit of good labours: and the root of Wisdom shall never fall away.

16As for the children of adulterers, they shall not come to their perfection, and the seed of an unrighteous bed shall be rooted out.

As for the children of adulterers — states begotten by a union turned from its true object — they shall not come to their perfection, and the seed of an unrighteous bed shall be rooted out.

17For though they live long, yet shall they be nothing regarded: and their last age shall be without honour.

For though they live long, yet shall they be nothing regarded: and their last age shall be without honour.

18Or, if they die quickly, they have no hope, neither comfort in the day of trial.

Or, if they die quickly, they have no hope, neither comfort in the day of trial — the crisis when the order confronts the state.

19For horrible is the end of the unrighteous generation.

For horrible is the end of the generation out of right relation.

Companion volume to The Why Bible — the King James Apocrypha, rendered in its spiritual meanings. First final edition, October 2026.