Praise of Wisdom[a]
24 Wisdom will praise herself,
and she will boast in the midst of her people.
2 In the assembly of the Most High,
she will open her mouth,
and in the presence of
his heavenly forces, she will boast:
3 “I came forth from the mouth
of the Most High,
and I covered the earth like a mist.
4 I lived in the heights,
and my throne was in a pillar of cloud.
5 I alone encircled the vault of heaven
and walked in the depths of abysses.
6 In the waves of the sea and in every land,
and among every people and nation,
I led the way.
7 I sought a resting place
among all of these.
In whose allotted territory
should I make my home?
8 “Then the creator of all things
gave me a command;
the one who created me pitched my tent
and said, ‘Make your dwelling in Jacob,
and let Israel receive your inheritance.’
9 Before the ages, from the beginning,
he created me,
and till eternity I will never fail.
10 I ministered before him in the holy tent,
and so I was established in Zion.
11 In the same way, he made
the dearly loved city my resting place
and established my authority
in Jerusalem.
12 I took root in a glorified people;
among the people the Lord chose
for his inheritance.
13 ‘I rose high like a cedar in Lebanon,
like a cypress on Mount Hermon.
14 I rose high like a palm in En-geddi,
and like rosebushes in Jericho,
like a fair olive tree in a field.
I rose high like a plane tree.
15 Like cinnamon and camel’s thorn
used for spices,
I gave off a fine aroma.
Like choice myrrh,
I spread forth my fragrance,
like galbanum, onycha, and stacte,
and like the smell of frankincense
in the tent.
16 Like a terebinth oak
I spread out my branches,
and my branches were glorious
and graceful.
17 Gracious favor was the leaf
that I put forth like a vine,
and honor and wealth
were the fruit that my blossoms bore.[b]
19 “Come to me, you who desire me,
and take your fill of my produce.
20 Calling me to mind is sweeter
than honey,
and possessing me
is better than a dripping honeycomb.
21 Those who eat of me will hunger
for more,
and those who drink of me
will thirst for more.
22 Whoever obeys me won’t be ashamed,
and those who work with me
won’t sin.”
Wisdom and the Law
23 All these things are in the covenant scroll of the Most High God,
the Law that Moses commanded us,
the inheritance of the congregations
of Jacob.[c]
25 God supplies Wisdom comparable
to the fullness of the Pishon River,
even like the Tigris River
in the springtime.
26 God provides understanding
as deep as the Euphrates,
or like the Jordan at the time
of the harvest.
27 God pours forth understanding like light,
as does the Gihon Spring
at the time of the grape harvest.
28 The first human
didn’t know Wisdom completely,
and so the last won’t probe her fully.
29 Her thoughts are more plentiful
than the sea;
her counsel is deeper
than the great abyss.[d]
30 Like a canal from a river,
like an irrigation channel,
I went out into a garden.
31 I said, “I’ll water my garden,
and I’ll drench my flower bed.
And look! The canal
turned into a river for me,
and my river turned into a sea.
32 I’ll continue to make instruction
shine forth like the dawn,
and I’ll make things clear
to those who are far off.
33 I’ll continue to pour out teaching
like prophecy,
and I’ll leave it behind
for future generations.
34 See, I’ve not labored for myself alone,
but for all those who seek her.”
Footnotes
- Sirach 24:1 The title appears in Gk manuscripts.
- Sirach 24:17 LXXb adds 24:18 I am the mother of beautiful love, of awe, of knowledge, and of devout hope, and I grant them, together with all things, to my children eternally generated gifts, to those whom God chooses.
- Sirach 24:23 LXXb adds 24:24 Don’t stop being strong in the Lord, but cling to him so that he might strengthen you. The Lord Almighty alone is God, and there’s no savior except for him.
- Sirach 24:29 Or Her thoughts grow from the sea, and her plan grows from the deep abyss.