Wisdom - The Old Testament

¹ I too am mortal like everyone else, a descendant of the first man formed from the earth. I was modelled in flesh inside a mother's womb,

² where, for ten months, in blood I acquired substance -- the result of virile seed and pleasure, sleep's companion.

³ I too, when I was born, drew in the common air, I fell on the same ground that bears us all, and crying was the first sound I made, like everyone else.

⁴ I was nurtured in swaddling clothes, with every care.

⁵ No king has known any other beginning of existence;

⁶ for there is only one way into life, and one way out of it.

⁷ And so I prayed, and understanding was given me; I entreated, and the spirit of Wisdom came to me.

⁸ I esteemed her more than sceptres and thrones; compared with her, I held riches as nothing.

⁹ I reckoned no precious stone to be her equal, for compared with her, all gold is a pinch of sand, and beside her, silver ranks as mud.

¹⁰ I loved her more than health or beauty, preferred her to the light, since her radiance never sleeps.

¹¹ In her company all good things came to me, and at her hands incalculable wealth.

¹² All these delighted me, since Wisdom brings them, though I did not then realise that she was their mother.

¹³ What I learned diligently, I shall pass on liberally, I shall not conceal how rich she is.

¹⁴ For she is to human beings an inexhaustible treasure, and those who acquire this win God's friendship, commended to him by the gifts of instruction.

¹⁵ May God grant me to speak as he would wish and conceive thoughts worthy of the gifts I have received, since he is both guide to Wisdom and director of sages;

¹⁶ for we are in his hand, yes, ourselves and our sayings, and all intellectual and all practical knowledge.

¹⁷ He it was who gave me sure knowledge of what exists, to understand the structure of the world and the action of the elements,

¹⁸ the beginning, end and middle of the times, the alternation of the solstices and the succession of the seasons,

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

²⁰ the natures of animals and the instincts of wild beasts, the powers of spirits and human mental processes, the varieties of plants and the medical properties of roots.

²¹ And now I understand everything, hidden or visible, for Wisdom, the designer of all things, has instructed me.

²² For within her is a spirit intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, incisive, unsullied, lucid, invulnerable, benevolent, shrewd,

²³ irresistible, beneficent, friendly to human beings, steadfast, dependable, unperturbed, almighty, all-surveying, penetrating all intelligent, pure and most subtle spirits.

²⁴ For Wisdom is quicker to move than any motion; she is so pure, she pervades and permeates all things.

²⁵ She is a breath of the power of God, pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; so nothing impure can find its way into her.

²⁶ For she is a reflection of the eternal light, untarnished mirror of God's active power, and image of his goodness.

²⁷ Although she is alone, she can do everything; herself unchanging, she renews the world, and, generation after generation, passing into holy souls, she makes them into God's friends and prophets;

²⁸ for God loves only those who dwell with Wisdom.

²⁹ She is indeed more splendid than the sun, she outshines all the constellations; compared with light, she takes first place,

³⁰ for light must yield to night, but against Wisdom evil cannot prevail.