Sirach
As found in the Greek Septuagint
GNB
Chapter 24
Sirach 24:1 Listen to Wisdom! She proudly sings her own praises among the Israelites, her own people,
Sirach 24:2 in the assembly of the Most High, in the presence of his power.
Sirach 24:3 "I am the word spoken by the Most High. I covered the earth like a mist.
Sirach 24:4 I made my home in highest heaven, my throne on a pillar of cloud.
Sirach 24:5 Alone I walked around the circle of the sky and walked through the ocean beneath the earth.
Sirach 24:6 I ruled over all the earth and the ocean waves, over every nation, over every people.
Sirach 24:7 I looked everywhere for a place to settle, some part of the world to make my home.
Sirach 24:8 Then my
Creator, who created the universe, told me where I was to live.
'Make your home in Israel,' he said. 'The descendants of
Jacob will be your people.'
Sirach 24:9 He created me in eternity, before time began, and I will exist for all eternity to come.
Sirach 24:10 I served him in the Sacred Tent and then made my home on Mount Zion.
Sirach 24:11 He settled me in the Beloved City and gave me authority over Jerusalem.
Sirach 24:12 I put down roots among an honored people whom the Lord had chosen as his own.
Sirach 24:13 I grew tall, like the cedars in Lebanon, like the cypresses on Mount Hermon,
Sirach 24:14 like the
palm trees of Engedi, like the roses of Jericho,
like beautiful olive trees in the fields, like plane
trees growing by the water.
Sirach 24:15 My breath
was the spicy smell of cinnamon, of sweet perfume and finest myrrh,
of stacte, onycha, and galbanum, the fragrant incense in the
Sacred Tent.
Sirach 24:16 Like an oak I spread out my branches, magnificent and graceful.
Sirach 24:17 Like a grapevine I put out lovely shoots; my blossoms gave way to rich and glorious fruit.
Sirach 24:19 Come to me, all you that want me, and eat your fill of my fruit.
Sirach 24:20 You will remember me as sweeter than honey, better than honey from the comb.
Sirach 24:21 Eat me, and you will hunger for more; drink me, and you will thirst for more.
Sirach 24:22 Obey me, and you will never have cause for embarrassment; do as I say, and you will be safe from sin."
Sirach 24:23 Wisdom is the Law, the Law which Moses commanded us to keep, the covenant of God Most High, the inheritance of the synagogues of Israel.
Sirach 24:25 The Law overflows with Wisdom like the Pishon River, like the Tigris at fruit-picking time.
Sirach 24:26 The Law brims over with understanding like the Euphrates, like the Jordan at harvest time.
Sirach 24:27 It sparkles with teachings like the Nile, like the Gihon at grape-picking time.
Sirach 24:28 The first human being ever created never knew Wisdom completely, and the last person on earth will be no more successful.
Sirach 24:29 The possibilities of Wisdom are vaster than the ocean; her resources are more profound than the deepest waters beneath the earth.
Sirach 24:30 As for me, I thought of myself as an irrigation canal bringing water from a river into a garden.
Sirach 24:31 I only intended to water my orchard and flower beds, but the canal soon became a river, and the river became a sea.
Sirach 24:32 And so I present you with my learning; I hold it high, so that its light can be seen everywhere, like that of the rising sun.
Sirach 24:33 Like an inspired prophet, I pour out my teachings, so that future generations can benefit from them.
Sirach 24:34 Please realize that I have not done all this hard work for myself alone, but to help anyone who wants to be wise.