| 24 | Ecclesiasticus | ||
| 1 | Wisdom will praise herself, and will glory in the midst of her people. | In praise of Wisdom. Sir.24.1-22 | |
| 2 | In the assembly of the Most High she will open her mouth, and in the presence of his host she will glory: | ||
| 3 | "I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, and covered the earth like a mist. | ||
| 4 | I dwelt in high places, and my throne was in a pillar of cloud. | ||
| 5 | Alone I have made the circuit of the vault of heaven and have walked in the depths of the abyss. | ||
| 6 | In the waves of the sea, in the whole earth, and in every people and nation I have gotten a possession. | ||
| 7 | Among all these I sought a resting place; I sought in whose territory I might lodge. | ||
| 8 | "Then the Creator of all things gave me a commandment, and the one who created me assigned a place for my tent. And he said, `Make your dwelling in Jacob, and in Israel receive your inheritance.' | ||
| 9 | From eternity, in the beginning, he created me, and for eternity I shall not cease to exist. | ||
| 10 | In the holy tabernacle I ministered before him, and so I was established in Zion. | ||
| 11 | In the beloved city likewise he gave me a resting place, and in Jerusalem was my dominion. | ||
| 12 | So I took root in an honoured people, in the portion of the Lord, who is their inheritance. | ||
| 13 | "I grew tall like a cedar in Lebanon, and like a cypress on the heights of Hermon. | ||
| 14 | I grew tall like a palm tree in En-gedi, and like rose plants in Jericho; like a beautiful olive tree in the field, and like a plane tree I grew tall. | ||
| 15 | Like cassia and camel's thorn I gave forth the aroma of spices, and like choice myrrh I spread a pleasant odour, like galbanum, onycha, and stacte, and like the fragrance of frankincense in the tabernacle. | ||
| 16 | Like a terebinth I spread out my branches, and my branches are glorious and graceful. | ||
| 17 | Like a vine I caused loveliness to bud, and my blossoms became glorious and abundant fruit. | ||
| 19 | "Come to me, you who desire me, and eat your fill of my produce. | ||
| 20 | For the remembrance of me is sweeter than honey, and my inheritance sweeter than the honeycomb. | ||
| 21 | Those who eat me will hunger for more, and those who drink me will thirst for more. | ||
| 22 | Whoever obeys me will not be put to shame, and those who work with my help will not sin." | ||
| 23 | All this is the book of the covenant of the Most High God, the law which Moses commanded us as an inheritance for the congregations of Jacob. | Wisdom & the Law. Sir.24.23-34 | |
| 25 | It fills men with wisdom, like the Pishon, and like the Tigris at the time of the first fruits. | ||
| 26 | It makes them full of understanding, like the Euphrates, and like the Jordan at harvest time. | ||
| 27 | It makes instruction shine forth like light, like the Gihon at the time of vintage. | ||
| 28 | Just as the first man did not know her perfectly, the last one has not fathomed her; | ||
| 29 | for her thought is more abundant than the sea, and her counsel deeper than the great abyss. | ||
| 30 | I went forth like a canal from a river and like a water channel into a garden. | ||
| 31 | I said, "I will water my orchard and drench my garden plot"; and lo, my canal became a river, and my river became a sea. | ||
| 32 | I will again make instruction shine forth like the dawn, and I will make it shine afar; | ||
| 33 | I will again pour out teaching like prophecy, and leave it to all future generations. | ||
| 34 | Observe that I have not laboured for myself alone, but for all who seek instruction. | ||
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