Wisdom 3:1–9

A Catholic funeral reading (first reading), with the full text in the Douay-Rheims.

Reads in about 1 minute9 versesCatholic: Old Testament

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Douay-Rheims

Wisdom is in Catholic Bibles but not in the King James Version, so the Douay-Rheims text is given.

1. 1But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them.
2. 2In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure was taken for misery:
3. 3And their going away from us, for utter destruction: but they are in peace.
4. 4And though in the sight of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality.
5. 5Afflicted in few things, in many they shall be well rewarded: because God hath tried them, and found them worthy of himself.
6. 6As gold in the furnace, he hath proved them, and as a victim of a holocaust, he hath received them, and in time there shall be respect had to them.
7. 7The just shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds.
8. 8They shall judge nations, and rule over people, and their Lord shall reign for ever.
9. 9They that trust in him shall understand the truth: and they that are faithful in love, shall rest in him: for grace and peace are to his elect.

Most Catholic parishes in the US read the New American Bible. Read Wisdom 3 in the NABRE at usccb.org.

Where this reading is used

• Catholic: Old Testament (Lectionary for Mass, no. 1011)

Scripture: King James Version (1769 text) and Douay-Rheims Bible, Challoner revision (Project Gutenberg #1581); both public domain. Citation as listed in the Lectionary for Mass.