What hope do wicked people have? Only the hope of straw blown about in the wind, the hope of ocean foam that disappears in the storm, the hope of smoke in the breeze. Their hope lasts no longer than our memory of a guest who stays one day and leaves the next.
[ὅτι ἐλπὶς ἀσεβοῦς ὡς φερόμενος χνοῦς ὑπὸ ἀνέμου
καὶ ὡς πάχνη ὑπὸ λαίλαπος διωχθεῖσα λεπτὴ
καὶ ὡς καπνὸς ὑπὸ ἀνέμου διεχύθη
καὶ ὡς μνεία καταλύτου μονοημέρου παρώδευσεν.]The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 22a. Wisdom (Wisdom of Solomon) 5:14 (Wis 5:14) [tr. GNT (1992 ed.)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Other translations:For the hope of the ungodly is like dust that is blown away with the wind; like a thin froth that is driven away with the storm; like as the smoke which is dispersed here and there with a tempest, and passeth away as the remembrance of a guest that tarrieth but a day.
[tr. KJV (1611)]For the hope of the wicked is as dust, which is blown away with the wind, and as a thin froth which is dispersed by the storm: and a smoke that is scattered abroad by the wind: and as the remembrance of a guest of one day that passeth by.
[tr. DRA (1899), 5:15]Yes, the hope of the godless is like chaff carried on the wind, like fine spray driven by the gale; it disperses like smoke before the wind, goes like the memory of a one-day guest.
[tr. JB (1966)]For the hope of the godless is like chaff carried on the wind, like fine spray driven by the storm; it disperses like smoke before the wind, goes away like the memory of a one-day guest.
[tr. NJB (1985)]The ungodly person’s hope disappears like dust in the wind, like frost that is stripped away and scattered by a mighty wind, like smoke that rises and is immediately dispersed by the wind, like the memory of a stranger who spends the day and then is gone.
[tr. CEB (2011)]Because the hope of the ungodly is like thistledown carried by the wind
and like a light frost driven away by a storm;
it is dispersed like smoke before the wind,
and it passes like the remembrance of a guest who stays but a day.
[tr. NRSV (2021 ed.)]
Quotations about:
transitoriness
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
What good did our pride do us? What good were our wealth and pretension? These things have all passed away like a shadow. They’re gone like old news.
[τί ὠφέλησεν ἡμᾶς ἡ ὑπερηφανία;
καὶ τί πλοῦτος μετὰ ἀλαζονείας συμβέβληται ἡμῖν;
παρῆλθεν ἐκεῖνα πάντα ὡς σκιὰ
καὶ ὡς ἀγγελία παρατρέχουσα·]The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 22a. Wisdom (Wisdom of Solomon) 5: 8ff (Wis 5:8–9) [tr. CEB (2011)]
(Source)
Wisdom (also known as "Wisdom of Solomon) is one of the Apocrypha, not included in many Protestant Bibles or in the Tanakh (though in the Septuagint). See here for more information on the origin and acceptance of this book.
(Source (Greek)). Other translations:What hath pride profited us? or what good hath riches with our vaunting brought us?
All those things are passed away like a shadow, and as a post that hasted by;
[tr. KJV (1611)]What hath pride profited us? or what advantage hath the boasting of riches brought us?
All those things are passed away like a shadow, and like a post that runneth on.
[tr. DRA (1899)]Arrogance, what advantage has this brought us?
Wealth and boasting, what have these conferred on us?
All those things have passed like a shadow,
passed like a fleeting rumour.
[tr. JB (1966)]What good has arrogance been to us?
What has been the purpose of our riches and boastfulness?
All those things have passed like a shadow,
passed like a fleeting rumour.
[tr. NJB (1985)]We were so proud of ourselves — we bragged about how rich we were — and now, what good has it done us? All those things are gone now; they have disappeared like a shadow, like something you hear and then forget.
[tr. GNT (1992 ed.)]What has our arrogance profited us?
And what good has our boasted wealth brought us?
All those things have vanished like a shadow
and like a rumor that passes by.
[tr. NRSV (2021 ed.)]