1. For, not thinking rightly, they said among themselves:“Brief and troubled is our lifetime;there is no remedy for our dying,nor is anyone known to have come back from Hades.
2. For by mere chance were we born,and hereafter we shall be as though we had not been;Because the breath in our nostrils is smoke,and reason a spark from the beating of our hearts,
3. And when this is quenched, our body will be ashesand our spirit will be poured abroad like empty air.
4. Even our name will be forgotten in time,and no one will recall our deeds.So our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud,and will be dispersed like a mistPursued by the sun’s raysand overpowered by its heat.
5. For our lifetime is the passing of a shadow;and our dying cannot be deferredbecause it is fixed with a seal; and no one returns.
6. Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that are here,and make use of creation with youthful zest.
7. Let us have our fill of costly wine and perfumes,and let no springtime blossom pass us by;
8. let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.
9. Let no meadow be free from our wantonness;everywhere let us leave tokens of our merriment,for this is our portion, and this our lot.
10. Let us oppress the righteous poor;let us neither spare the widownor revere the aged for hair grown white with time.
11. But let our strength be our norm of righteousness;for weakness proves itself useless.
12. Let us lie in wait for the righteous one, because he is annoying to us;he opposes our actions,Reproaches us for transgressions of the lawand charges us with violations of our training.
13. He professes to have knowledge of Godand styles himself a child of the Lord.