Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 24

¹ Wisdom speaks her own praises, in the midst of her people she glories in herself.

² She opens her mouth in the assembly of the Most High, she glories in herself in the presence of the Mighty One;

³ ‘I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, and I covered the earth like mist.

⁴ I had my tent in the heights, and my throne in a pillar of cloud.

⁵ Alone I encircled the vault of the sky, and I walked on the bottom of the deeps.

⁶ Over the waves of the sea and over the whole earth, and over every people and nation I have held sway.

⁷ Among all these I searched for rest, and looked to see in whose territory I might pitch camp.

⁸ Then the creator of all things instructed me, and he who created me fixed a place for my tent. He said, “Pitch your tent in Jacob, make Israel your inheritance”.

⁹ From eternity, in the beginning, he created me, and for eternity I shall remain.

¹⁰ I ministered before him in the holy tabernacle, and thus was I established on Zion.

¹¹ In the beloved city he has given me rest, and in Jerusalem I wield my authority.

¹² I have taken root in a privileged people, in the Lord’s property, in his inheritance.

¹³ I have grown tall as a cedar on Lebanon, as a cypress on Mount Hermon;

¹⁴ I have grown tall as a palm in Engedi, as the rose bushes of Jericho; as a fine olive in the plain, as a plane tree I have grown tall.

¹⁵ I have exhaled a perfume like cinnamon and acacia, I have breathed out a scent like choice myrrh, like galbanum, onycha and stacte, like the smoke of incense in the tabernacle.

¹⁶ I have spread my branches like a terebinth, and my branches are glorious and graceful.

¹⁷ I am like a vine putting out graceful shoots, my blossoms bear the fruit of glory and wealth.

¹⁹ Approach me, you who desire me, and take your fill of my fruits,

²⁰ for memories of me are sweeter than honey, inheriting me is sweeter than the honeycomb.

²¹ They who eat me will hunger for more, they who drink me will thirst for more.

²² Whoever listens to me will never have to blush, whoever acts as I dictate will never sin’.

²³ All this is no other than the book of the covenant of the Most High God, the Law that Moses enjoined on us, an inheritance for the communities of Jacob.

²⁵ That is what makes wisdom brim like the Pishon[*a], like the Tigris in the season of fruit,

²⁶ what makes understanding brim over like the Euphrates, like the Jordan at harvest time

²⁷ and makes discipline flow like the Nile, like the Gihon at the time of vintage.

²⁸ The first man never managed to grasp her entirely, nor has the most recent one fully comprehended her

²⁹ for her thoughts are wider than the sea, and her designs more profound than the abyss.

³⁰ And I, like a conduit from a river, like a watercourse running into a garden,

³¹ I said, ‘I am going to water my orchard, I intend to irrigate my flower beds’ And see, my conduit has grown into a river, and my river has grown into a sea.

³² Now I shall make discipline shine out, I shall send its light far and wide.

³³ I shall pour out teaching like prophecy, as a legacy to all future generations.

³⁴ Observe that I have not toiled for myself alone, but for all who are seeking wisdom.