1I too am a mortal man, like all others, and a descendant of the first-formed, earthborn one. In my mother’s womb I was fashioned into flesh,
2in a ten-month period, compacted in blood from the seed of a man and the pleasure that accompanies union in sleep.
3And when I was born, I too drew in the common air and fell upon the kindred earth, uttering my first sound, the same cry as all others.
4I was nurtured in swaddling clothes and with cares.
5For no king has had a different beginning to his existence;
6but for all there is one entrance into life, and a like departure.
7Therefore I prayed, and prudence was given to me; I called out, and a spirit of wisdom came to me.
8I preferred her to scepters and thrones, and I considered wealth as nothing in comparison with her.
9Nor did I compare a priceless gem to her, because all gold in her sight is but a little sand, and silver will be accounted as clay before her.
10I loved her more than health and beauty, and I chose to have her rather than light, because her radiance is unfailing.
11All good things came to me together with her, and incalculable wealth was in her hands.
12I rejoiced in all these things, because wisdom is their leader, though I did not know that she was their mother.
13I learned her without guile, and I share her without envy; I do not hide her wealth.
14For she is an unfailing treasure for mortals, and those who use it acquire friendship with God, being commended by the gifts that come from her instruction.
15May God grant me to speak with understanding and to conceive thoughts worthy of his gifts, for he himself is the guide of wisdom and the director of the wise.
16For in his hand are both we and our words, all prudence and knowledge of crafts.
17For he himself gave me unerring knowledge of what exists, to know the structure of the world and the activity of the elements,
18the beginning, end, and middle of times, the alterations of the solstices and the changes of seasons,
19the cycles of years and the positions of the stars,
20the natures of living creatures and the tempers of wild beasts, the forces of winds and the reasonings of human beings, the varieties of plants and the powers of roots.
21I came to know both what is secret and what is manifest.
22For wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me. For in her is a spirit that is intelligent, holy, one and only, multifaceted, subtle, agile, clear, undefiled, distinct, benign, loving what is good, keen, unhindered, beneficent,
23humane, steadfast, sure, free from care, all-powerful, all-seeing, and penetrating all spirits that are intelligent, pure, and most subtle.
24For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; she pervades and penetrates all things because of her purity.
25For she is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing defiled can enter into her.
26For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness.
27Though she is one, she can do all things, and while remaining in herself, she renews all things; in generation after generation she passes into holy souls, making them friends of God and prophets.
28For God loves no one except the one who dwells with wisdom.
29For she is more beautiful than the sun and surpasses every constellation of the stars. Compared with light, she is found to be superior.
30For night succeeds light, but evil does not prevail against wisdom.
Open in the interactive reader →