1 La Sagesse fait son propre éloge, au milieu de son peuple elle montre sa fierté. | 1 Wisdom shall praise her own self, and shall be honoured in God, and shall glory in the midst of her people, |
2 Dans l'assemblée du Très-Haut elle ouvre la bouche, devant la Puissance elle montre safierté. | 2 And shall open her mouth in the churches of the most High, and shall glorify herself in the sight of his power, |
3 "Je suis issue de la bouche du Très-Haut et comme une vapeur j'ai couvert la terre. | 3 And in the midst of her own people she shall be exalted, and shall be admired in the holy assembly. |
4 J'ai habité dans les cieux et mon trône était une colonne de nuée. | 4 And in the multitude of the elect she shall have praise, and among the blessed she shall be blessed, saying: |
5 Seule j'ai fait le tour du cercle des cieux, j'ai parcouru la profondeur des abîmes. | 5 I came out of the mouth of the most High, the firstborn before all creatures: |
6 Dans les flots de la mer, sur toute la terre, chez tous les peuples et toutes les nations, j'airégné. | 6 I made that in the heavens there should rise light that never faileth, and as a cloud I covered all the earth: |
7 Parmi eux tous j'ai cherché le repos, j'ai cherché en quel patrimoine m'installer. | 7 I dwelt in the highest places, and my throne is in a pillar of a cloud. |
8 Alors le créateur de l'univers m'a donné un ordre, celui qui m'a créée m'a fait dresser matente, Il m'a dit: Installe-toi en Jacob, entre dans l'héritage d'Israël. | 8 I alone have compassed the circuit of heaven, and have penetrated into the bottom of the deep, and have walked in the waves of the sea, |
9 Avant les siècles, dès le commencement il m'a créée, éternellement je subsisterai. | 9 And have stood in all the earth: and in every people, |
10 Dans la Tente sainte, en sa présence, j'ai officié; c'est ainsi qu'en Sion je me suis établie, | 10 And in every nation I have had the chief rule: |
11 et que dans la cité bien-aimée j'ai trouvé mon repos, qu'en Jérusalem j'exerce mon pouvoir. | 11 And by my power I have trodden under my feet the hearts of all the high and low: and in all these I sought rest, and I shall abide in the inheritance of the Lord. |
12 Je me suis enracinée chez un peuple plein de gloire, dans le domaine du Seigneur, en sonpatrimoine. | 12 Then the creator of all things commanded, and said to me: and he that made me, rested in my tabernacle, |
13 J'y ai grandi comme le cèdre du Liban, comme le cyprès sur le mont Hermon. | 13 And he said to me: Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thy inheritance in Israel, and take root in my elect. |
14 J'ai grandi comme le palmier d'Engaddi, comme les plants de roses de Jéricho, comme unolivier magnifique dans la plaine, j'ai grandi comme un platane. | 14 From the beginning, and before the world, was I created, and unto the world to come I shall not cease to be, and in the holy dwelling place I have ministered before him. |
15 Comme le cinnamome et l'acanthe j'ai donné du parfum, comme une myrrhe de choix j'aiembaumé, comme le galbanum, l'onyx, le labdanum, comme la vapeur d'encens dans la Tente. | 15 And so was I established in Sion, and in the holy city likewise I rested, and my power was in Jerusalem. |
16 J'ai étendu mes rameaux comme le térébinthe, ce sont des rameaux de gloire et de grâce. | 16 And I took root in an honourable people, and in the portion of mg God his inheritance, and my abode is in the full assembly of saints. |
17 Je suis comme une vigne aux pampres gracieux, et mes fleurs sont des produits de gloire etde richesse. | 17 I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress tree on mount Sion. |
| 18 I was exalted like a palm tree in Cades, and as a rose plant in Jericho: |
19 Venez à moi, vous qui me désirez; et rassasiez-vous de mes produits. | 19 As a fair olive tree in the plains, and as a plane tree by the water in the streets, was I exalted. |
20 Car mon souvenir est plus doux que le miel, mon héritage plus doux qu'un rayon de miel. | 20 I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon. and aromatical balm: I yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh: |
21 Ceux qui me mangent auront encore faim, ceux qui me boivent auront encore soif. | 21 And I perfumed my dwelling as storax, and galbanum, and onyx, and aloes, and as the frankincense not cut, and my odour is as the purest balm. |
22 Celui qui m'obéit n'aura pas à en rougir et ceux qui font mes oeuvres ne pécheront pas." | 22 I have stretched out my branches as the turpentine tree, and my branches are of honour and grace. |
23 Tout cela n'est autre que le livre de l'alliance du Dieu Très-Haut, la Loi promulguée parMoïse, laissée en héritage aux assemblées de Jacob. | 23 As the vine I have brought forth a pleasant odour: and my flowers are the fruit of honour and riches. |
| 24 I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope. |
25 C'est elle qui fait abonder la sagesse comme les eaux du Phisôn, comme le Tigre à lasaison des fruits; | 25 In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue. |
26 qui fait déborder l'intelligence comme l'Euphrate, comme le Jourdain au temps de lamoisson; | 26 Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits. |
27 qui fait couler la discipline comme le Nil, comme le Gihôn aux jours des vendanges. | 27 For my spirit is sweet above honey, and my inheritance above honey and the honeycomb. |
28 Le premier n'a pas fini de la découvrir, et de même le dernier ne l'a pas trouvée. | 28 My memory is unto everlasting generations. |
29 Car ses pensées sont plus vastes que la mer, ses desseins plus grands que l'abîme. | 29 They that eat me, shall yet hunger: and they that drink me, shall yet thirst. |
30 Et moi, je suis comme un canal issu d'un fleuve, comme un cours d'eau conduisant auparadis. | 30 He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin. |
31 J'ai dit: "Je vais arroser mon jardin, je vais irriguer mes parterres." Et voici que mon canalest devenu fleuve et le fleuve est devenu mer. | 31 They that explain me shall have life everlasting. |
32 Je ferai luire la discipline dès le matin, je porterai au loin sa lumière. | 32 All these things are the book of life, and the covenant of the most High, and the knowledge of truth. |
33 Je répandrai l'instruction comme une prophétie et je la transmettrai aux générations futures. | 33 Moses commanded a law in the precepts of justices, and an inheritance to the house of Jacob, and the promises to Israel. |
34 Voyez: ce n'est pas pour moi que je travaille, mais pour tous ceux qui la cherchent. | 34 He appointed to David his servant to raise up of him a most mighty king, and sitting on the throne of glory for ever. |
| 35 Who filleth up wisdom as the Phison, and as the Tigris in the days of the new fruits. |
| 36 Who maketh understanding to abound as the Euphrates, who multiplieth it as the Jordan in the time of harvest. |
| 37 Who sendeth knowledge as the light, and riseth up as Gehon in the time of the vintage. |
| 38 Who first hath perfect knowledge of her, and a weaker shall not search her out. |
| 39 For her thoughts are more vast than the sea, and her counsels more deep than the great ocean. |
| 40 I, wisdom, have poured out rivers. |
| 41 I, like a brook out of a river of a mighty water; I, like a channel of a river. and like an aqueduct, came out of paradise. |
| 42 I said: I will water my garden of plants, and I will water abundantly the fruits of my meadow. |
| 43 And behold my brook became a great river, and my river came near to a sea: |
| 44 For I make doctrine to shine forth to all as the morning light, and I will declare it afar off. |
| 45 I will penetrate to all the lower parts of the earth, and will behold all that sleep, and will enlighten all that hope in the Lord. |
| 46 I will yet pour out doctrine as prophecy, and will leave it to them that seek wisdom, and will not cease to instruct their offspring even to the holy age. |
| 47 See ye that I have not laboured for myself only, but for all that seek out the truth. |