1
For they said among themselves, reasoning wrongly: “Short and sorrowful is our life, and there is no remedy when Adam comes to his end, nor has anyone been known to return from Sheol.
2
For by chance we came into being, and afterward we shall be as though we had never been. For the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and thought is a spark kindled by the beating of our heart.
3
When it is extinguished, the body shall turn to ashes, and the ruach shall be scattered like thin air.
4
Our name shall be forgotten with time, and no one shall remember our works. Our life shall pass away like the trace of a cloud and shall be dispersed like mist driven away by the rays of the sun and overcome by its heat.
5
For our time is the passing of a shadow, and there is no return from our end, because it is sealed, and none turns back.
6
Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that exist, and make use of creation eagerly as in youth.
7
Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and perfumes, and let no flower of spring pass us by.
8
Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.
9
Let none of us be absent from our revelry. Everywhere let us leave signs of our pleasure, for this is our portion, and this is our lot.
10
Let us oppress the poor righteous one. Let us not spare the widow, nor reverence the gray hairs of the elder.
11
Let our strength be the law of Righteousness, for what is weak is shown to be useless.
12
Let us lie in wait for the righteous one, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our works. He reproaches us for transgressions against the Torah and accuses us of sins against our discipline.
13
He declares that he has knowledge of Elohim and calls himself a son of Yahuah.
14
He has become a rebuke to our thoughts.
15
Even to look upon him is burdensome to us, because his life is unlike that of others, and his paths are strange.
16
We are regarded by him as something false, and he turns away from our ways as from uncleanness. He calls blessed the latter end of the righteous and boasts that Elohim is his Father.
17
Let us see whether his words are true, and let us test what shall happen at his end.
18
For if the righteous one is a son of Elohim, He will help him, and He will deliver him from the hand of his enemies.
19
Let us test him with insult and torment, that we may know his gentleness and examine his patience.
20
Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for according to his words, he shall be watched over.”
21
Thus they reasoned, and they were deceived, for their wickedness blinded them.
22
They did not know the mysteries of Elohim, nor did they hope for the reward of holiness, nor discern the honor of blameless beings.
23
For Elohim created Adam for incorruption and made him as an image of His own eternity.
24
But through the envy of the Adversary, death entered into the world, and those who belong to his portion experience it.