1Lord Almighty, God of Israel, a soul in anguish and a fainting spirit cry out to you.
2Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.
3For you are enthroned forever, and we are perishing forever.
4Lord Almighty, God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead of Israel, and of the sons of those who sinned against you, who did not listen to your voice, their God, and so these evils have clung to us.
5Do not remember the iniquities of our fathers, but remember your hand and your name at this time.
6For you are the Lord our God, and we will praise you, O Lord.
7For this is why you have put your fear in our hearts: to call upon your name. And we will praise you in our exile, because we have turned away from our hearts all the iniquity of our fathers who sinned against you.
8Behold, here we are today in our exile, where you scattered us to be a reproach, a curse, and a penalty, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, who turned away from the Lord our God.
9Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life; give ear, that you may learn prudence.
10Why is it, Israel, that you are in the land of your enemies? You have grown old in a foreign land; you have been defiled with the dead.
11you were counted among those who go down to Hades.
12You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom.
13If you had walked in the way of God, you would be dwelling in peace forever.
14Learn where prudence is, where strength is, where understanding is, so as to know at the same time where long life and life are, where light for the eyes and peace are.
15Who has found her place, and who has entered her treasuries?
16Where are the rulers of the nations and those who lord it over the beasts of the earth,
17who play with the birds of the sky, and who hoard the silver and gold in which people trust, and whose acquiring has no end?
18For as for those who fashion silver and are anxious, and whose works cannot be fathomed,
19they have vanished and gone down to Hades, and others have risen up in their place.
20A younger generation saw the light and dwelt upon the earth, but they did not know the way of knowledge,
21nor did they understand her paths or lay hold of her. Their sons were far from her way.
22She was not heard of in Canaan, nor was she seen in Teman.
23Nor did the sons of Hagar who seek for understanding on the earth, the merchants of Merran and Teman, the storytellers and the seekers of understanding—they did not know the way of wisdom, nor did they remember her paths.
24O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how vast is the place of his possession!
25It is great and has no end, lofty and immeasurable.
26There were born the famous giants of old, of great stature and skilled in war.
27God did not choose these, nor did he give them the way of knowledge.
28So they perished because they had no prudence; they perished through their own folly.
29Who has gone up into heaven and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds?
30Who has crossed beyond the sea and found her, and will bring her back in exchange for choice gold?
31There is no one who knows her way, nor anyone who considers her path.
32But he who knows all things knows her; he found her with his understanding. He who established the earth for all time filled it with four-footed animals.
33He sends forth the light, and it goes; he called it, and it obeyed him with trembling.
34And the stars shone in their watches and rejoiced.
35He called them, and they said, ‘Here we are.’ They shone with gladness for him who made them.
36This is our God; no other shall be compared to him.
37He found out every way of knowledge and gave it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel, his beloved.
38After this, she appeared on earth and lived among human beings.
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