Wisdom 7

¹ I also am mortal, like all men, a descendant of the first-formed child of earth; and in the womb of a mother I was molded into flesh,

² within the period of ten months, compacted with blood, from the seed of a man and the pleasure of marriage.

³ And when I was born, I began to breathe the common air, and fell upon the kindred earth, and my first sound was a cry, like that of all.

⁴ I was nursed with care in swaddling cloths.

⁵ For no king has had a different beginning of existence;

⁶ there is for all mankind one entrance into life, and a common departure.

⁷ Therefore I prayed, and understanding was given me; I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.

⁸ I preferred her to scepters and thrones, and I accounted wealth as nothing in comparison with her.

⁹ Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem, because all gold is but a little sand in her sight, and silver will be accounted as clay before her.

¹⁰ I loved her more than health and beauty, and I chose to have her rather than light, because her radiance never ceases.

¹¹ All good things came to me along with her, and in her hands uncounted wealth.

¹² I rejoiced in them all, because wisdom leads them; but I did not know that she was their mother.

¹³ I learned without guile and I impart without grudging; I do not hide her wealth,

¹⁴ for it is an unfailing treasure for men; those who get it obtain friendship with God, commended for the gifts that come from instruction.

¹⁵ May God grant that I speak with judgment and have thought worthy of what I have received, for he is the guide even of wisdom and the corrector of the wise.

¹⁶ For both we and our words are in his hand, as are all understanding and skill in crafts.

¹⁷ For it is he who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists, to know the structure of the world and the activity of the elements;

¹⁸ the beginning and end and middle of times, the alternations of the solstices and the changes of the seasons,

¹⁹ the cycles of the year and the constellations of the stars,

²⁰ the natures of animals and the tempers of wild beasts, the powers of spirits and the reasonings of men, the varieties of plants and the virtues of roots;

²¹ I learned both what is secret and what is manifest,

²² for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me. For in her there is a spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen, irresistible,

²³ beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety, all-powerful, overseeing all, and penetrating through all spirits that are intelligent and pure and most subtle.

²⁴ For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things.

²⁵ For she is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her.

²⁶ For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness.

²⁷ Though she is but one, she can do all things, and while remaining in herself, she renews all things; in every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets;

²⁸ for God loves nothing so much as the man who lives with wisdom.

²⁹ For she is more beautiful than the sun, and excels every constellation of the stars. Compared with the light she is found to be superior,

³⁰ for it is succeeded by the night, but against wisdom evil does not prevail.