Wisdom 16:4-6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
4 For inexorable want had to come upon those oppressors;
but these needed only to be shown how their enemies were being tormented.(A)
5 For when the dire venom of beasts came upon them(B)
and they were dying from the bite of crooked serpents,
your anger endured not to the end.
6 But as a warning, for a short time they were terrorized,
though they had a sign[a] of salvation, to remind them of the precept of your law.
Footnotes
- 16:6 Sign: the brazen serpent, as related in Numbers 21, but the author deliberately avoids any misunderstanding by addressing the Lord as responsible for the healing, since he is “the savior of all” (v. 7; see also vv. 12 and 26 for the role of the “word” of God).
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