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