| 7 | Wisdom of Solomon | ||
| 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, | Solomon's wisdom. Wis.7.1-22 | |
| 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, for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me. | ||
| 22 | For in her there is a spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen, irresistible, | The nature of Wisdom. Wis.7.22-8.1 | |
| 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. | ||
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