Sirach

SECOND PART

Hymn to Wisdom

Listen to wisdom singing her own praise and boasting about herself among her people.

See, she opens her mouth in the assembly of the Most High, she glorifies herself before the Almighty.

I came out from the mouth of God and covered the face of the earth like a mist; although

my dwelling place is in the highest heavens, my throne is within a pillar of cloud.

I alone have seen and understood the vault of the skies and have wandered through the depths of the abyss,

taking possession of the raging sea and the earth, along with all its people and nations.

In all of these, I searched for a place to rest; where could I set up my abode?

Then the creator of the universe, who made me, commanded me and designated my resting place: “Pitch your tent in Jacob; Israel will be your homeland.”

He created me from the very beginning, before time itself started, and I will never cease to be,

I celebrate in his presence the liturgy of his Holy Dwelling, and this is why I settled in Zion.

The Lord allowed me to rest in his beloved city, and Jerusalem is the heart of my kingdom.

I have taken root among the people God has favored, in the land of the Lord, in their inheritance.

I grew like a cedar in Lebanon, like the cypress on Mount Hermon.

I grew like the palm trees in Engedi and the rosebuds of Jericho; like a magnificent olive on the plains and like a tall plane tree.

I poured out my fragrance like a fragrant flower, like exquisite myrrh I have given a choice scent; like fragrant plants and like the smoke of incense burning in the Sanctuary of God.

I spread out my branches like a vine; these are glory and grace.

As a vine, I produce graceful shoots, and my blossoms represent riches and glory.

Come to me, you who desire me, and take your fill of my fruits.

Experiencing me is sweeter than honey, and possessing me is sweeter than any honeycomb.

Those who eat me will still hunger; those who drink me will thirst for more.

Those who obey me will not be ashamed; those who serve me will not stumble into sin.

All this, and nothing else, is the Book of the Covenant of the Most High God—the law that Moses entrusted to us, the inheritance of Israel’s tribes.

…

This Law sustains the springs of wisdom, like the Pishon or Tigris during the season of fruit.

Waters overflowing with understanding flow from it, like the Euphrates and Jordan at harvest time;

floods of instruction run like the Nile or the Gihon during vintage season.

He who arrives first cannot fully understand her, and the last will never exhaust her.

Her thoughts are broader than the sea, and her plans run deeper than the abyss.

I, for my part, started like a brook from a river, a stream diverted into a beautiful garden.

I thought: “Let me water my orchard and my flowers.” But now my brook has grown into a river, and the river into a sea.

May my teaching shine like the dawn; may I bring its light to distant places.

I will share my teaching like a prophecy and pass it on to future generations.

See, all of you, that I have worked not just for myself but for everyone seeking wisdom.