Wis 12:1-11

1for your imperishable spirit is in all things!^a

2Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little,

warn them, and remind them of the sins they are committing,

that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, Lord!

3For truly, the ancient inhabitants of your holy land,^b

4whom you hated for deeds most odious—

works of sorcery and impious sacrifices;

5These merciless murderers of children,

devourers of human flesh,^*

and initiates engaged in a blood ritual,

6and parents who took with their own hands defenseless lives,^c

You willed to destroy by the hands of our ancestors,

7that the land that is dearest of all to you

might receive a worthy colony of God’s servants.^d

8But even these you spared, since they were but mortals

and sent wasps as forerunners of your army

that they might exterminate them by degrees.^e

9Not that you were without power to have the wicked vanquished in battle by the righteous,

or wiped out at once by terrible beasts or by one decisive word;^f

10But condemning them by degrees, you gave them space for repentance.

You were not unaware that their origins were wicked

and their malice ingrained,^g

And that their dispositions would never change;

11for they were a people accursed from the beginning.

Neither out of fear for anyone

did you grant release from their sins.^h