4
"These are persons whom we once held in derision and made a byword of reproach—fools that we were! We thought that their lives were madness and that their end was without honor.
5
Why have they been numbered among the children of God? And why is their lot among the saints?
6
So it was we who strayed from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness did not shine on us, and the sun did not rise upon us.
7
We took our fill of the paths of lawlessness and destruction, and we journeyed through trackless deserts, but the way of the Lord we have not known.
8
What has our arrogance profited us? And what good has our boasted wealth brought us?
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.