1Wisdom shall praise her own self, and shall be honoured in God, and shall glory in the midst of her people, 2And shall open her mouth in the churches of the most High, and shall glorify herself in the sight of his power, 3And in the midst of her own people she shall be exalted, and shall be admired in the holy assembly. 4And in the multitude of the elect she shall have praise, and among the blessed she shall be blessed, saying: 5I came out of the mouth of the most High, the firstborn before all creatures: 6I made that in the heavens there should rise light that never faileth, and as a cloud I covered all the earth: 7I dwelt in the highest places, and my throne is in a pillar of a cloud. 8I alone have compassed the circuit of heaven, and have penetrated into the bottom of the deep, and have walked in the waves of the sea, 9And have stood in all the earth: and in every people, 10And in every nation I have had the chief rule: 11And by my power I have trodden under my feet the hearts of all the high and low: and in all these I sought rest, and I shall abide in the inheritance of the Lord. 12Then the creator of all things commanded, and said to me: and he that made me, rested in my tabernacle, 13And he said to me: Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thy inheritance in Israel, and take root in my elect. 14From the beginning, and before the world, was I created, and unto the world to come I shall not cease to be, and in the holy dwelling place I have ministered before him. 15And so was I established in Sion, and in the holy city likewise I rested, and my power was in Jerusalem. 16And I took root in an honourable people, and in the portion of my God his inheritance, and my abode is in the full assembly of saints. 17I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress tree on mount Sion. 18I was exalted like a palm tree in Cades, and as a rose plant in Jericho: 19As a fair olive tree in the plains, and as a plane tree by the water in the streets, was I exalted. 20I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon, and aromatical balm: I yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh: 21And I perfumed my dwelling as storax, and galbanum, and onyx, and aloes, and as the frankincense not cut, and my odour is as the purest balm. 22I have stretched out my branches as the turpentine tree, and my branches are of honour and grace. 23As the vine I have brought forth a pleasant odour: and my flowers are the fruit of honour and riches. 24I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope. 25In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue. 26Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits. 27For my spirit is sweet above honey, and my inheritance above honey and the honeycomb. 28My memory is unto everlasting generations. 29They that eat me, shall yet hunger: and they that drink me, shall yet thirst. 30He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin. 31They that explain me shall have life everlasting. 32All these things are the book of life, and the covenant of the most High, and the knowledge of truth. 33Moses commanded a law in the precepts of justices, and an inheritance to the house of Jacob, and the promises to Israel. 34He appointed to David his servant to raise up of him a most mighty king, and sitting on the throne of glory for ever. 35Who filleth up wisdom as the Phison, and as the Tigris in the days of the new fruits. 36Who maketh understanding to abound as the Euphrates, who multiplieth it as the Jordan in the time of harvest. 37Who sendeth knowledge as the light, and riseth up as Gehon in the time of the vintage. 38Who first hath perfect knowledge of her, and a weaker shall not search her out. 39For her thoughts are more vast than the sea, and her counsels more deep than the great ocean. 40I, wisdom, have poured out rivers. 41I, like a brook out of a river of a mighty water; I, like a channel of a river, and like an aqueduct, came out of paradise. 42I said: I will water my garden of plants, and I will water abundantly the fruits of my meadow. 43And behold my brook became a great river, and my river came near to a sea: 44For I make doctrine to shine forth to all as the morning light, and I will declare it afar off. 45I will penetrate to all the lower parts of the earth, and will behold all that sleep, and will enlighten all that hope in the Lord. 46I will yet pour out doctrine as prophecy, and will leave it to them that seek wisdom, and will not cease to instruct their offspring even to the holy age. 47See ye that I have not laboured myself only, but for all that seek out the truth. Douay Rheims Version - Bishop Challoner Revision Home |