Chapter 7
1: I also am mortal, like everyone else, a descendant of the first-formed child of earth;
and in the womb of a mother I was moulded into flesh,
and in the womb of a mother I was moulded 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; my first sound was a cry, as is true of all.
4: I was nursed with care in swaddling clothes.
5: For no king has had a different beginning of existence;
6: there is for all one entrance into life, and one way out.
7: Therefore I prayed, and understanding was given me; I called on God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.
8: I preferred her to sceptres 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.
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 mortals; those who get it obtain friendship with God, commended for the gifts that come from instruction.
15: May God grant me to speak with judgement, and to have thoughts 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 animals, the powers of spirits and the thoughts of human beings, 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. There is in her 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, pure, and altogether 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: Although 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 person who lives with wisdom.
29: 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.
Chapter 8
1: She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well.
2: I loved her and sought her from my youth; I desired to take her for my bride, and became enamoured of her beauty.
3: She glorifies her noble birth by living with God, and the Lord of all loves her.
4: For she is an initiate in the knowledge of God, and an associate in his works.
5: If riches are a desirable possession in life, what is richer than wisdom, the active cause of all things?
6: And if understanding is effective, who more than she is fashioner of what exists?
7: And if anyone loves righteousness, her labours are virtues; for she teaches self-control and prudence, justice and courage; nothing in life is more profitable for mortals than these.
8: And if anyone longs for wide experience, she knows the things of old, and infers the things to come; she understands turns of speech and the solutions of riddles; she has foreknowledge of signs and wonders and of the outcome of seasons and times.
9: Therefore I determined to take her to live with me, knowing that she would give me good counsel and encouragement in cares and grief.
10: Because of her I shall have glory among the multitudes and honour in the presence of the elders, though I am young.
11: I shall be found keen in judgement, and in the sight of rulers I shall be admired.
12: When I am silent they will wait for me, and when I speak they will give heed; if I speak at greater length, they will put their hands on their mouths.
13: Because of her I shall have immortality, and leave an everlasting remembrance to those who come after me.
14: I shall govern peoples, and nations will be subject to me;
15: dread monarchs will be afraid of me when they hear of me; among the people I shall show myself capable, and courageous in war.
16: When I enter my house, I shall find rest with her; for companionship with her has no bitterness, and life with her has no pain, but gladness and joy.
17: When I considered these things inwardly, and pondered in my heart that in kinship with wisdom there is immortality,
18: and in friendship with her, pure delight, and in the labours of her hands, unfailing wealth, and in the experience of her company, understanding, and renown in sharing her words, I went about seeking how to get her for myself.
19: As a child I was naturally gifted, and a good soul fell to my lot;
20: or rather, being good, I entered an undefiled body.
21: But I perceived that I would not possess wisdom unless God gave her to me - and it was a mark of insight to know whose gift she was - so I appealed to the Lord and implored him, and with my whole heart I said:
Chapter 9
1: ‘O God of my ancestors and Lord of mercy, who have made all things by your word,
2: and by your wisdom have formed humankind to have dominion over the creatures you have made,
3: and rule the world in holiness and righteousness, and pronounce judgement in uprightness of soul,
4: give me the wisdom that sits by your throne, and do not reject me from among your servants.
5: For I am your servant, the son of your servant-girl, a man who is weak and short-lived,
with little understanding of judgement and laws;
with little understanding of judgement and laws;
6: for even one who is perfect among human beings will be regarded as nothing without the wisdom that comes from you.
7: You have chosen me to be king of your people and to be judge over your sons and daughters.
8: You have given command to build a temple on your holy mountain, and an altar in the city of your habitation, a copy of the holy tent that you prepared from the beginning.
9: With you is wisdom, she who knows your works and was present when you made the world; she understands what is pleasing in your sight and what is right according to your commandments.
10: Send her forth from the holy heavens, and from the throne of your glory send her, that she may labour at my side, and that I may learn what is pleasing to you.
11: For she knows and understands all things, and she will guide me wisely in my actions and guard me with her glory.
12: Then my works will be acceptable, and I shall judge your people justly, and shall be worthy of the throne of my father.
13: For who can learn the counsel of God? Or who can discern what the Lord wills?
14: For the reasoning of mortals is worthless, and our designs are likely to fail;
16: We can hardly guess at what is on earth and what is at hand we find with labour; but who has traced out what is in the heavens?
17: Who has learned your counsel, unless you have given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high?
18: And thus the paths of those on earth were set right, and people were taught what pleases you, and were saved by wisdom.’
Chapter 10
1: Wisdom protected the first-formed father of the world, when he alone had been created; she delivered him from his transgression,
2: and gave him strength to rule all things.
3: But when an unrighteous man departed from her in his anger, he perished because in rage he killed his brother.
4: When the earth was flooded because of him, wisdom again saved it, steering the righteous man by a paltry piece of wood.
5: Wisdom also, when the nations in wicked agreement had been put to confusion, recognized the righteous man and preserved him blameless before God, and kept him strong in the face of his compassion for his child.
6: Wisdom rescued a righteous man when the ungodly were perishing; he escaped the fire that descended on the Five Cities.
7: Evidence of their wickedness still remains: a continually smoking waste-land, plants bearing fruit that does not ripen, and a pillar of salt standing as a monument to an unbelieving soul.
8: For because they passed wisdom by, they not only were hindered from recognizing the good, but also left for humankind a reminder of their folly, so that their failures could never go unnoticed.
9: Wisdom rescued from troubles those who served her.
10: When a righteous man fled from his brother’s wrath, she guided him on straight paths; she showed him the kingdom of God, and gave him knowledge of holy things;
she prospered him in his labours, and increased the fruit of his toil.
she prospered him in his labours, and increased the fruit of his toil.
11: When his oppressors were covetous, she stood by him and made him rich.
12: She protected him from his enemies, and kept him safe from those who lay in wait for him; in his arduous contest she gave him the victory, so that he might learn that godliness is more powerful than anything else.
13: When a righteous man was sold, wisdom did not desert him, but delivered him from sin. She descended with him into the dungeon,
14: and when he was in prison she did not leave him, until she brought him the sceptre of a kingdom and authority over his masters. Those who accused him she showed to be false, and she gave him everlasting honour.
15: A holy people and blameless race wisdom delivered from a nation of oppressors.
16: She entered the soul of a servant of the Lord, and withstood dread kings with wonders and signs.
17: She gave to holy people the reward of their labours; he guided them along a marvellous way, and became a shelter to them by day, and a starry flame through the night.
18: She brought them over the Red Sea, and led them through deep waters;
19: but she drowned their enemies, and cast them up from the depths of the sea.
20: Therefore the righteous plundered the ungodly; they sang hymns, O Lord, to your holy name, and praised with one accord your defending hand;
21: for wisdom opened the mouths of those who were mute, and made the tongues of infants speak clearly.
Chapter 11
2: They journeyed through an uninhabited wilderness, and pitched their tents in untrodden places.
3: They withstood their enemies and fought off their foes.
4: When they were thirsty, they called upon you, and water was given them out of flinty rock, and from hard stone a remedy for their thirst.
5: For through the very things by which their enemies were punished, they themselves received benefit in their need.
6: Instead of the fountain of an ever-flowing river, stirred up and defiled with blood
7: in rebuke for the decree to kill the infants, you gave them abundant water unexpectedly,
8: showing by their thirst at that time how you punished their enemies.
9: For when they were tried, though they were being disciplined in mercy, they learned how the ungodly were tormented when judged in wrath.
10: For you tested them as a parent does in warning, but you examined the ungodly as a stern king does in condemnation.
11: Whether absent or present, they were equally distressed,
12: for a twofold grief possessed them, and a groaning at the memory of what had occurred.
13: For when they heard that through their own punishments the righteous had received benefit, they perceived it was the Lord’s doing.
14: For though they had mockingly rejected him who long before had been cast out and exposed, at the end of the events they marveled at him, when they felt thirst in a different way from the righteous.
15: In return for their foolish and wicked thoughts, which led them astray to worship irrational serpents and worthless animals, you sent upon them a multitude of irrational creatures to punish them,
16: so that they might learn that one is punished by the very things by which one sins.
17: For your all-powerful hand, which created the world out of formless matter,
did not lack the means to send upon them a multitude of bears, or bold lions,
did not lack the means to send upon them a multitude of bears, or bold lions,
18: or newly-created unknown beasts full of rage, or such as breathe out fiery breath,
or belch forth a thick pall of smoke, or flash terrible sparks from their eyes;
or belch forth a thick pall of smoke, or flash terrible sparks from their eyes;
19: not only could the harm they did destroy people, but the mere sight of them could kill by fright.
20: Even apart from these, people could fall at a single breath when pursued by justice
and scattered by the breath of your power. But you have arranged all things by measure and number and weight.
and scattered by the breath of your power. But you have arranged all things by measure and number and weight.
21: For it is always in your power to show great strength, and who can withstand the might of your arm?
22: Because the whole world before you is like a speck that tips the scales, and like a drop of morning dew that falls on the ground.
23: But you are merciful to all, for you can do all things, and you overlook people’s sins, so that they may repent.
24: For you love all things that exist, and detest none of the things that you have made,
for you would not have made anything if you had hated it.
for you would not have made anything if you had hated it.
25: How would anything have endured if you had not willed it? Or how would anything not called forth by you have been preserved?
26: You spare all things, for they are yours, O Lord, you who love the living.
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