As God loves humanity, he multiplies the inheritance of the faithful in knowledge of his truth. As he loathes the wicked, they shall not live.

(Fragment 1 top margin: too fragmentary for continuous translation.)

Seek a [plan of under]standing; I will teach you wisdom.
Consider the ways of humanity and the deeds of the sons of [A]dam.

For as God loves mankind, he has multiplied his inheritance
in the knowledge of his truth.

But according to his loathing of every evil man — [the one who follows]
his ears and his eyes — he shall not live.

And now: kindness [...] the form[er ones].
Consider the years of ea[ch] generation,
as God has revealed. [...]

Colophon

Text: 4Q413 (4QComposition concerning Divine Providence), Cave 4, first century BCE. Two fragments preserving five lines of a wisdom address. Published by E. Qimron in DJD XX (Oxford: Clarendon, 1997), pp. 169–171, pl. XIV; revised in The Qumran Texts: Composite Edition (Zenodo, CC BY 4.0, 2020). The text belongs to the Qumran sapiential tradition alongside 4QInstruction and 4Q412.

Translation: Good Works Translation from Hebrew by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Hebrew consulted in García Martínez and Tigchelaar, The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition (Brill, 1997–1999), vol. 2, p. 842. All lacunae marked [...]; restored text in brackets follows scholarly consensus.

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Source Text

4Q413 — פרגמנטים א–ב (Fragments 1–2)

Hebrew transcription from García Martínez and Tigchelaar, The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, vol. 2, p. 842 (Brill, 1997–1999). Square brackets indicate lacunae or restorations. "vacat" marks an intentional blank in the manuscript.

מזמת ש]כל מצאו[ וחוכמה אלמדכמה והתבוננו בדרכי                                1
[  בני אד]ם כי כאהבת  אנוש ובפועלות את איש הרבה לו נחלה בדעת                2
                    כל רע] ההולך אחר מ[שמע אוזניו ומראה עינו בל   אמתו וכפי גועלו     3
                                                    vacat חסד ]…[רי       יחיה  ועתה    4
                                    שונים ובינו בשני ד]ור ו[דור כאשר גלה vacat  א      5
[…]

Notes

Line 1: מזמת = "plan/purpose/scheme" (root זמם); אלמד + כמה = "I will teach you."

Line 2: כאהבת אנוש — "as God loves man/humanity"; the divine subject is implied. הרבה לו נחלה — "he has multiplied his inheritance for him."

Line 3: וכפי גועלו — "and according to his loathing" (root געל = to abhor). בל יחיה — "he shall not live."

Line 4–5: The manuscript has explicit vacat (blank) markings at two points, functioning as paragraph breaks.

Source Colophon

Source: Hebrew. Cave 4, Qumran. DJD XX (Qimron, 1997). Transcription consulted: García Martínez and Tigchelaar, DSSE (1997–1999).

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