Sirach 43

¹ The clear vault of the sky shines forth like heaven itself, a vision of glory.

² The orb of the sun, resplendent at its rising: what a wonderful work of the Most High!

³ At noon it seethes the surface of the earth, and who can bear its fiery heat?

⁴ Like a blazing furnace of solid metal, it sets the mountains aflame with its rays; By its fiery darts the land is consumed; the eyes are dazzled by its light.

⁵ Great indeed is the LORD who made it, at whose orders it urges on its steeds.

⁶ The moon, too, that marks the changing times, governing the seasons, their lasting sign,

⁷ By which we know the feast days and fixed dates, this light-giver which wanes in its course:

⁸ As its name says, each month it renews itself; how wondrous in this change!

⁹ The beauty, the glory, of the heavens are the stars that adorn with their sparkling the heights of God,

¹⁰ At whose command they keep their place and never relax in their vigils. A weapon against the flood waters stored on high, lighting up the firmament by its brilliance,

¹¹ Behold the rainbow! Then bless its Maker, for majestic indeed is its splendor;

¹² It spans the heavens with its glory, this bow bent by the mighty hand of God.

¹³ His rebuke marks out the path for the lightning, and speeds the arrows of his judgment to their goal.

¹⁴ At it the storehouse is opened, and like vultures the clouds hurry forth.

¹⁵ In his majesty he gives the storm its power and breaks off the hailstones.

¹⁶ The thunder of his voice makes the earth writhe; before his might the mountains quake.

¹⁷ A word from him drives on the south wind, the angry north wind, the hurricane and the storm.

¹⁸ He sprinkles the snow like fluttering birds; it comes to settle like swarms of locusts.

¹⁹ Its shining whiteness blinds the eyes, the mind is baffled by its steady fall.

²⁰ He scatters frost like so much salt; it shines like blossoms on the thornbush.

²¹ Cold northern blasts he sends that turn the ponds to lumps of ice. He freezes over every body of water, and clothes each pool with a coat of mail.

²² When the mountain growth is scorched with heat, and the flowering plains as though by flames,

²³ The dripping clouds restore them all, and the scattered dew enriches the parched land.

²⁴ His is the plan that calms the deep, and plants the islands in the sea.

²⁵ Those who go down to the sea tell part of its story, and when we hear them we are thunderstruck;

²⁶ In it are his creatures, stupendous, amazing, all kinds of life, and the monsters of the deep.

²⁷ For him each messenger succeeds, and at his bidding accomplishes his will.

²⁸ More than this we need not add; let the last word be, he is all in all!

²⁹ Let us praise him the more, since we cannot fathom him, for greater is he than all his works;

³⁰ Awful indeed is the LORD'S majesty, and wonderful is his power.

³¹ Lift up your voices to glorify the LORD, though he is still beyond your power to praise;

³² Extol him with renewed strength, and weary not, though you cannot reach the end:

³³ For who can see him and describe him? or who can praise him as he is?

³⁴ Beyond these, many things lie hid; only a few of his works have we seen.

³⁵ It is the LORD who has made all things, and to those who fear him he gives wisdom.