1I myself also am ⁶⁸mortal, like to all,
And am sprung from one born of the earth, the man first formed,

2And in the womb of a mother was I moulded into flesh in the time of ten months,
Being compacted in blood of the seed of man and pleasure that came with sleep.

3And I also, when I was born, drew in the common air,
And fell upon the ⁶⁹kindred earth,
Uttering, like all, for my first voice, the selfsame wail:

4In swaddling clothes was I nursed, and ⁷⁰with watchful cares.

5For no king had any other first beginning;

6But all men have one entrance into life, and a like departure.

7For this cause I prayed, and understanding was given me:
I called upon God, and there came to me a spirit of wisdom.

8I preferred her before sceptres and thrones,
And riches I esteemed nothing in comparison of her.

9Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem,
Because all the gold of the earth in her presence is a little sand,
And silver shall be accounted as clay before her.

10Above health and comeliness I loved her,
And I chose to have her rather than light,
Because her bright shining is never laid to sleep.

11But with her there came to me all good things together,
And in her hands innumerable riches:

12And I rejoiced over them all because wisdom leadeth them;
Though I knew not that she was the ⁷¹mother of them.

13As I learned without guile, I impart without grudging;
I do not hide her riches.

14For she is unto men a treasure that faileth not,
And they that use it ⁷²obtain friendship with God,
Commended to him ⁷³by the gifts which they through discipline present to him.

15But to me may God give to speak ⁷⁴with judgement,
And to conceive thoughts worthy of what ⁷⁵hath been given me;
Because himself is one that guideth even wisdom and that correcteth the wise.

16For in his hand are both we and our words;
All understanding, and all acquaintance with divers crafts.

17For himself gave me an unerring knowledge of the things that are,
To know the constitution of the world, and the operation of the elements;

18The beginning and end and middle of times,
The alternations of the solstices and the changes of seasons,

19The circuits of years and the ⁷⁶positions of stars;

20The natures of living creatures and the ragings of wild beasts,
The violences of ⁷⁷winds and the thoughts of men,
The diversities of plants and the virtues of roots:

21All things that are either secret or manifest I learned,

22For she that is the artificer of all things taught me, even wisdom.
For there is in her a spirit quick of understanding, holy,
⁷⁸Alone in kind, manifold,
Subtil, freely moving,
Clear in utterance, unpolluted,
Distinct, unharmed,
Loving what is good, keen, unhindered,

23Beneficent, loving toward man,
Stedfast, sure, free from care,
All-powerful, all-surveying,
And penetrating through all spirits
That are quick of understanding, pure, most subtil:

24For wisdom is more mobile than any motion;
Yea, she pervadeth and penetrateth all things by reason of her pureness.

25For she is a ⁷⁹breath of the power of God,
And a clear effluence of the glory of the Almighty;
Therefore can nothing defiled find entrance into her.

26For she is an effulgence from everlasting light,
And an unspotted mirror of the working of God,
And an image of his goodness.

27And she, being one, hath power to do all things;
And remaining in herself, reneweth all things:
And from generation to generation passing into holy souls
She maketh men friends of God and prophets.

28For nothing doth God love save him that dwelleth with wisdom.

29For she is fairer than the sun,
And above ⁸⁰all the constellations of the stars:
Being compared with light, she is found to be before it;

30For ⁸¹to the light of day succeedeth night,
But against wisdom evil doth not prevail;