The praise of wisdom
3   ‘I am the word which was spoken by the Most High;
it was I who covered the earth like a mist.
4   My dwelling-place was in high heaven;
my throne was in a pillar of cloud.
5   Alone I made a circuit of the sky
and traversed the depth of the abyss.
6   The waves of the sea, the whole earth,
every people and nation were under my sway.
7   Among them all I looked for a home:
in whose territory was I to settle?
8   Then the Creator of the universe laid a command upon me;
my Creator decreed where I should dwell.
He said, “Make your home in Jacob;
find your heritage in Israel.”
9   Before time began he created me,
and I shall remain for ever.
10   In the sacred tent I ministered in his presence,
and so I came to be established in Zion.
11   Thus he settled me in the city he loved
and gave me authority in Jerusalem.
12   I took root among the people whom the Lord had honoured
by choosing them to be his special possession.


13   ‘There I grew like a cedar of Lebanon,
like a cypress on the slopes of Hermon,
14   like a date-palm at Engedi,
like roses at Jericho.
I grew like a fair olive-tree in the vale,
or like a plane-tree planted beside the water.
15   Like cassia or camel-thorn I was redolent of spices;
I spread my fragrance like choice myrrh,
like galban, aromatic shell, and gum resin;
I was like the smoke of incense in the sacred tent.
16   Like a terebinth I spread out my branches,
laden with honour and grace.
17   I put forth lovely shoots like the vine,
and my blossoms were a harvest of wealth and honour. ^note

The praise of wisdom
19   ‘Come to me, you who desire me,
and eat your fill of my fruit.
20   The memory of me is sweeter than syrup,
the possession of me sweeter than honey dripping from the comb.
21   Whoever feeds on me will be hungry for more,
and whoever drinks from me will thirst for more.
22   To obey me is to be safe from disgrace;
those who work in wisdom will not go astray.’


23   All this is the covenant-book of God Most High,
the law which Moses enacted to be the heritage of the assemblies of Jacob. ^note
25   He sends out wisdom in full flood like the river Pishon
or like the Tigris at the time of firstfruits;
26   he overflows with understanding like the Euphrates
or like Jordan at the time of harvest.
27   He pours forth instruction like the Nile, ^note
like the Gihon at the time of vintage.
28   No man has ever fully known wisdom;
from first to last no one has fathomed her;
29   for her thoughts are vaster than the ocean
and her purpose deeper than the great abyss.


30   As for me, I was like a canal leading from a river,
a watercourse into a pleasure-garden.
31   I said, ‘I will water my garden,
drenching its flower-beds’;
and at once my canal became a river
and my river a sea.
32   I will again make discipline shine like the dawn,
so that its light may be seen from afar.
33   I will again pour out doctrine like prophecy
and bequeath it to future generations.
34   Truly, my labour has not been for myself alone
but for all seekers of wisdom.

The praise of wisdom

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