Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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In Praise of Wisdom
1 Listen to Wisdom! She
proudly sings her own praises
among the Israelites, her own people,
2 in the assembly of the Most
High, in the presence of his power. note
3
“I am the word spoken by the Most High.
I covered the earth like a mist.
4
I made my home in highest heaven,
my throne on a pillar of cloud. note
5
Alone I walked around the circle of the sky
and walked through the ocean beneath the earth.
6
I ruled over note all the earth and the ocean waves,
over every nation, over every people.
7
I looked everywhere for a place to settle,
some part of the world to make my home.
8
Then my Creator, who created the universe,
told me where I was to live.
‘Make your home in Israel,’ he said.
‘The descendants of Jacob will be your people.’
9
He created me in eternity, before time began,
and I will exist for all eternity to come.
10
I served him in the sacred Tent
and then made my home on Mount Zion.
11
He settled me in the Beloved City
and gave me authority over Jerusalem.
12
I put down roots among an honored people
whom the Lord had chosen as his own.
13
I grew tall, like the cedars in Lebanon,
like the cypresses on Mount Hermon,
14
like the palm trees of Engedi, note
like the roses of Jericho,
like beautiful olive trees in the fields,
like plane trees growing by the water.
15
My breath was the spicy smell of cinnamon,
of sweet perfume and finest myrrh,
of stacte, onycha, and galbanum,
the fragrant incense in the sacred Tent.
16
Like an oak I spread out my branches,
magnificent and graceful.
17
Like a grapevine I put out lovely shoots;
my blossoms gave way to rich and glorious fruit. note
19
Come to me, all you that want me,
and eat your fill of my fruit.
20
You will remember me as sweeter than honey,
better than honey from the comb.
21
Eat me, and you will hunger for more;
drink me, and you will thirst for more.
22
Obey me, and you will never have cause for embarrassment;
do as I say, and you will be safe from sin.”
Wisdom and the Law
23 Wisdom is the Law, the Law
which Moses commanded us to
keep, the covenant of God Most
High, the inheritance of the synagogues
of Israel. note
25 The Law overflows
with Wisdom like the Pishon
River, like the Tigris at fruit-picking
-- --
time.
26 The Law brims over with understanding
like the Euphrates, like
the Jordan at harvest time.
27 It sparkles
with teachings like the Nile, note
like the Gihon at grape-picking time.
28 The first man ever created never
knew Wisdom completely, and the
last person on earth will be no more
successful.
29 The possibilities of
Wisdom are vaster than the ocean;
her resources are more profound
than the deepest waters beneath the
earth.
30 As for me, I thought of myself as
an irrigation canal bringing water
from a river into a garden.
31 I only
intended to water my orchard and
flower beds, but the canal soon became
a river, and the river became a
sea.
32 And so I present you with my
learning; I hold it high, so that its
light can be seen everywhere, like
that of the rising sun.
33 Like an inspired
prophet, I pour out my teachings,
so that future generations can
benefit from them.
34 Please realize
that I have not done all this hard
work for myself alone, but to help
anyone who wants to be wise.
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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