| 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. |
