Wisdom 12:8-10

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁸ But even these thou didst spare, since they were but men,
and didst send wasps^[a] as forerunners of thy army,
to destroy them little by little,
⁹ though thou wast not unable to give the ungodly into the hands of the righteous in battle,
or to destroy them at one blow by dread wild beasts or thy stern word.
¹⁰ But judging them little by little thou gavest them a chance to repent,
though thou wast not unaware that their origin^[b] was evil
and their wickedness inborn,
and that their way of thinking would never change.