Sirach 24

A Poem Praising Wisdom

¹Wisdom sings her own praise

and tells her greatness

²to those who worship the Lord

and to the Lord's armies

in heaven.

³And this is what she says:

I came from the mouth

of God Most High

and like a mist I moved

over the earth.

⁴Highest heaven was my home,[#Ex 33.9-11.]

and my throne was a cloud.

⁵Only I could travel

around the horizon

and walk in ocean depths.

⁶I ruled every nation,

the land, and the sea.

⁷But where could I find

a place to settle down?

In what nation should I live?

⁸Then the Creator of the world

gave me a command

telling me to set up my tent

among the descendants of Jacob,

the people of Israel.

⁹He created me ages ago,

before time began,

and I will never die.

¹⁰I served in his sacred tent,

and later in the temple

in Zion.

¹¹He gave me a resting place

in Jerusalem, the city he loves,

and this is where I rule.

¹²Here, I put down roots

among the glorious people

who belong to the Lord.

¹³I grew tall, like a cedar tree

in Lebanon

or a cypress on Mount Hermon;

¹⁴like a palm tree at En-Gedi,

or the roses in Jericho;

like a beautiful olive tree

in a field,

or like an evergreen.

¹⁵My perfume smelled sweet

like the spices cinnamon and cane

mixed with fine myrrh,

or like smoke in the sacred tent

from the incense of galbanum,

onycha, and stacte.

¹⁶I spread out my branches,

beautiful and graceful,

like a giant oak,

¹⁷and like a grapevine,

they grew buds and blossoms,

and finally clusters of rich,

sweet fruit.

¹⁸Beautiful love is my child,

and so are fear and knowledge

and hope that trusts God,

and he gives me and my children

to his own people.

¹⁹So come, if you want,

and enjoy my fruit

until you are full.

²⁰I am sweeter than honey

straight from the honeycomb,

and the sweet taste will remain

even when you have finished.

²¹But the more of me

that you eat and drink,

the more you will want.

²²Obey me and let me work

in your life,

and you will never sin

or be disgraced.

Wisdom Is God's Law

²³The wisdom of God Most High

is the Book of the Law

of Moses,

the agreement God made

with our ancestors

and gives to each new generation

as an inheritance.

²⁴Always stay close

to the Lord All-Powerful, and he

will give you strength.

The Lord is the only true God—

he alone can rescue.

*

²⁵God's wisdom and understanding

overflow from his Law

just as in early springtime,

the Tigris and Pishon Rivers,

²⁶the Euphrates and the Jordan,

overflow their banks.

²⁷God's teachings flood the land[#24.27 One ancient translation; Greek “It makes God's teaching shine like light.”]

like the Nile River

in early fall.

²⁸The first human did not know

Wisdom very well,

nor will the last one,

²⁹because her thoughts

are wider than the ocean,

and her advice is deeper

than the sea.

³⁰I thought of myself

as a small canal

from the river of God's Wisdom

to my garden,

³¹bringing water for my flowers

and fruit trees.

But soon this canal

became wide as a river

and then as the sea.

³²And so, I will teach wisdom

and make it shine like sunrise,

clearly seen from far away.

³³My words flow quickly,

and like a prophet

I will leave them

for generations not yet born.

³⁴You see, my work hasn't been

for myself alone,

but for everyone who desires

to find Wisdom.