Wisdom of Solomon 7

¹I 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,

²within the period of ten months, compacted with blood,

from the seed of a man and the pleasure of marriage.

³And 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.

⁴I was nursed with care in swaddling cloths.

⁵For no king has had a different beginning of existence;

⁶there is for all mankind one entrance into life, and a common departure.

⁷Therefore I prayed, and understanding was given me;

I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.

⁸I preferred her to scepters and thrones,

and I accounted wealth as nothing in comparison with her.

⁹Neither 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.

¹⁰I loved her more than health and beauty,

and I chose to have her rather than light,

because her radiance never ceases.

¹¹All good things came to me along with her,

and in her hands uncounted wealth.

¹²I rejoiced in them all, because wisdom leads them;

but I did not know that she was their mother.

¹³I learned without guile and I impart without grudging;

I do not hide her wealth,

¹⁴for it is an unfailing treasure for men;

those who get it obtain friendship with God,

commended for the gifts that come from instruction.

¹⁵May 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.

¹⁶For both we and our words are in his hand,

as are all understanding and skill in crafts.

¹⁷For it is he who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists,

to know the structure of the world and the activity of the elements;

¹⁸the beginning and end and middle of times,

the alternations of the solstices and the changes of the seasons,

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

²⁰the 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;

²¹I learned both what is secret and what is manifest,

²²for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me.

For in her there is a spirit that is intelligent, holy,

unique, manifold, subtle,

mobile, clear, unpolluted,

distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen,

irresistible,

²³beneficent, humane,

steadfast, sure, free from anxiety,

all-powerful, overseeing all,

and penetrating through all spirits

that are intelligent and pure and most subtle.

²⁴For wisdom is more mobile than any motion;

because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things.

²⁵For 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.

²⁶For she is a reflection of eternal light,

a spotless mirror of the working of God,

and an image of his goodness.

²⁷Though 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;

²⁸for God loves nothing so much as the man who lives with wisdom.

²⁹For she is more beautiful than the sun,

and excels every constellation of the stars.

Compared with the light she is found to be superior,

³⁰for it is succeeded by the night,

but against wisdom evil does not prevail.