Sir 24:1 Wisdom shall praise herself, and shall
glory in the midst of her people.
Sir 24:2 In the congregation of the most High shall she open her mouth, and
triumph before his power.
Sir 24:3 I came out of the mouth of the most High, and covered the earth as
a cloud.
Sir 24:4 I dwelt in high places, and my throne is in a cloudy pillar.
Sir 24:5 I alone compassed the circuit of heaven, and walked in the bottom
of the deep.
Sir 24:6 In the waves of the sea and in all the earth, and in every people
and nation, I got a possession.
Sir 24:7 With all these I sought rest: and in whose inheritance shall I
abide?
Sir 24:8 So the Creator of all things gave me a commandment, and he that
made me caused my tabernacle to rest, and said, Let thy dwelling be in
Jacob, and thine inheritance in Israel.
Sir 24:9 He created me from the beginning before the world, and I shall
never fail.
Sir 24:10 In the holy tabernacle I served before him; and so was I
established in Sion.
Sir 24:11 Likewise in the beloved city he gave me rest, and in Jerusalem was
my power.
Sir 24:12 And I took root in an honourable people, even in the portion of
the Lord's inheritance.
Sir 24:13 I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress tree upon
the mountains of Hermon.
Sir 24:14 I was exalted like a palm tree in En-gaddi, and as a rose plant in
Jericho, as a fair olive tree in a pleasant field, and grew up as a plane
tree by the water.
Sir 24:15 I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aspalathus, and I yielded a
pleasant odour like the best myrrh, as galbanum, and onyx, and sweet storax,
and as the fume of frankincense in the tabernacle.
Sir 24:16 As the turpentine tree I stretched out my branches, and my
branches are the branches of honour and grace.
Sir 24:17 As the vine brought I forth pleasant savour, and my flowers are
the fruit of honour and riches.
Sir 24:18 I am the mother of fair love, and fear, and knowledge, and holy
hope: I therefore, being eternal, am given to all my children which are
named of him.
Sir 24:19 Come unto me, all ye that be desirous of me, and fill yourselves
with my fruits.
Sir 24:20 For my memorial is sweeter than honey, and mine inheritance than
the honeycomb.
Sir 24:21 They that eat me shall yet be hungry, and they that drink me shall
yet be thirsty.
Sir 24:22 He that obeyeth me shall never be confounded, and they that work
by me shall not do amiss.
Sir 24:23 All these things are the book of the covenant of the most high
God, even the law which Moses commanded for an heritage unto the
congregations of Jacob.
Sir 24:24 Faint not to be strong in the Lord; that he may confirm you,
cleave unto him: for the Lord Almighty is God alone, and beside him there is
no other Saviour.
Sir 24:25 He filleth all things with his wisdom, as Phison and as Tigris in
the time of the new fruits.
Sir 24:26 He maketh the understanding to abound like Euphrates, and as
Jordan in the time of the harvest.
Sir 24:27 He maketh the doctrine of knowledge appear as the light, and as
Geon in the time of vintage.
Sir 24:28 The first man knew her not perfectly: no more shall the last find
her out.
Sir 24:29 For her thoughts are more than the sea, and her counsels
profounder than the great deep.
Sir 24:30 I also came out as a brook from a river, and as a conduit into a
garden.
Sir 24:31 I said, I will water my best garden, and will water abundantly my
garden bed: and, lo, my brook became a river, and my river became a sea.
Sir 24:32 I will yet make doctrine to shine as the morning, and will send
forth her light afar off.
Sir 24:33 I will yet pour out doctrine as prophecy, and leave it to all ages
for ever.
Sir 24:34 Behold that I have not laboured for myself only, but for all them
that seek wisdom.