O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi
prodisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviterque
disponens omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.
"Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it. Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone. He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death. The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men. As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire. The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.
"Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it. Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone. He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death. The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men. As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire. The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.
"There
is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not
seen: The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion
passed by it. He putteth forth his hand upon
the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. He cutteth out
rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing. He
bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid
bringeth he forth to light. But where shall wisdom be found? and
where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price
thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living. The depth
saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.
"
It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the
price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the
precious onyx, or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal cannot equal
it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. No
mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom
is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither
shall it be valued with pure gold.
"Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of
understanding? Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept
close from the fowls of the air. Destruction and death say, We have
heard the fame thereof with our ears. God understandeth the way
thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole
heaven; To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters
by measure. When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the
lightning of the thunder: Then did he see it, and declare it; he
prepared it, yea, and searched it out. And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
and to depart from evil is understanding."
"Now his parents went to Jerusalem
every year at the feast of the passover. And when he was twelve years
old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And
when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus
tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of
it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's
journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.
And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem,
seeking him. And it came to pass, that after three days they found
him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing
them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were
astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him,
they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou
thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee
sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist
ye not that I must be about my Father's business? And they understood
not the saying which he spake unto them. And he went down with them,
and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept
all these sayings in her heart.
"And Jesus increased in wisdom and
stature, and in favour with God and man."
"The Lord possessed me in the
beginning of his ways, before he made any thing from the beginning. I
was set up from eternity, and of old before the earth was made. The
depths were not as yet, and I was already conceived. Neither had the
fountains of waters as yet sprung out: The mountains with their huge
bulk had not as yet been established: before the hills I was brought
forth.
"He had not yet made the earth,
nor the rivers, nor the poles of the world. When he prepared the
heavens, I was present: when with a certain law and compass he
enclosed the depths: When he established the sky above, and poised
the fountains of waters: When he compassed the sea with its bounds,
and set a law to the waters that they should not pass their limits:
when he balanced the foundations of the earth; I was with him forming
all things: and was delighted every day, playing before him at all
times, playing in the world: and my delights were to be with the
children of men.
"Now therefore, ye children, hear
me: Blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise,
and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that
watcheth daily at my gates, and waiteth at the posts of my doors. He
that shall find me, shall find life, and shall have salvation from
the Lord."
"At that time Jesus answered and
said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou
hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed
them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.
All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the
Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the
Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him."
"In her is an understanding
spirit, holy, one only, manifold, subtle, lively, clear, undefiled,
plain, not subject to hurt, loving the thing that is good, quick,
which cannot be letted, ready to do good, kind to man, steadfast,
sure, free from care, having all power, overseeing all things, and
going through all understanding, pure, and most subtle, spirits. For
wisdom is more moving than any motion: she passeth and goeth through
all things by reason of her pureness. For she is the breath of the
power of God, and a pure influence flowing from the glory of the
Almighty: therefore can no defiled thing fall into her. For she is
the brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the
power of God, and the image of his goodness. And being but one, she
can do all things: and remaining in herself, she maketh all things
new: and in all ages entering into holy souls, she maketh them
friends of God, and prophets.
"For God loveth none but him that
dwelleth with wisdom. For she is more beautiful than the sun, and
above all the order of stars: being compared with the light, she is
found before it. For after this cometh night: but vice shall not
prevail against wisdom. Wisdom reacheth from one end to another
mightily: and sweetly doth she order all things."
"It is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God."
"It is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God."
"Wisdom shall praise her own self, and shall be honoured in God, and shall glory in the midst of her people, and shall open her mouth in the churches of the most High, and shall glorify herself in the sight of his power, and in the midst of her own people she shall be exalted, and shall be admired in the holy assembly. And in the multitude of the elect she shall have praise, and among the blessed she shall be blessed, saying:
"I came
out of the mouth of the most High, the firstborn before all
creatures: I made that in the heavens there should rise light that
never faileth, and as a cloud I covered all the earth: I dwelt in the
highest places, and my throne is in a pillar of a cloud. I alone have
compassed the circuit of heaven, and have penetrated into the bottom
of the deep, and have walked in the waves of the sea, and have stood
in all the earth: and in every people, And in every nation I have had
the chief rule. And by my power I have trodden under my feet the
hearts of all the high and low: and in all these I sought rest, and I
shall abide in the inheritance of the Lord.
"Then the creator of all things commanded, and said to me: and
he that made me, rested in my tabernacle, and he said to me: Let thy
dwelling be in Jacob, and thy inheritance in Israel, and take root in
my elect. From the beginning, and before the world, was I created,
and unto the world to come I shall not cease to be, and in the holy
dwelling place I have ministered before him. And so was I established
in Sion, and in the holy city likewise I rested, and my power was in
Jerusalem. And I took root in an honourable people, and in the
portion of my God his inheritance, and my abode is in the full
assembly of saints.
"I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress tree on
mount Sion. I was exalted like a palm tree in Cades, and as a rose
plant in Jericho: As a fair olive tree in the plains, and as a plane
tree by the water in the streets, was I exalted. I gave a sweet smell
like cinnamon. and aromatical balm: I yielded a sweet odour like the
best myrrh: And I perfumed my dwelling as storax, and galbanum, and
onyx, and aloes, and as the frankincense not cut, and my odour is as
the purest balm. I have stretched out my branches as the turpentine
tree, and my branches are of honour and grace. As the vine I have
brought forth a pleasant odour: and my flowers are the fruit of
honour and riches.
"I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge,
and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in
me is all hope of life and of virtue. Come over to me, all ye that
desire me, and be filled with my fruits. For my spirit is sweet above
honey, and my inheritance above honey and the honeycomb. My memory is
unto everlasting generations. They that eat me, shall yet hunger: and
they that drink me, shall yet thirst. He that hearkeneth to me, shall
not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin.They that
explain me shall have life everlasting.
"I, wisdom, have poured out rivers. I, like a brook out of a
river of a mighty water; I, like a channel of a river. and like an
aqueduct, came out of paradise. I said: I will water my garden of
plants, and I will water abundantly the fruits of my meadow. And
behold my brook became a great river, and my river came near to a
sea: For I make doctrine to shine forth to all as the morning light,
and I will declare it afar off. I will penetrate to all the lower
parts of the earth, and will behold all that sleep, and will
enlighten all that hope in the Lord. I will yet pour out doctrine as
prophecy, and will leave it to them that seek wisdom, and will not
cease to instruct their offspring even to the holy age. See ye that I
have not laboured for myself only, but for all that seek out the
truth."