Anonymous (Septuagint) · a new plain-English translation from the original language
1| I too am a mortal like everyone else, a descendant of the first man formed from the earth; and inside my mother, within her womb, I was shaped into flesh
2| in the space of ten months, compacted in blood from the seed of a man and the pleasure that comes with sleep.
3| And I too, once born, breathed in the same shared air, and dropped down onto the ground we all meet the same fate on, crying that first cry that is identical for everyone.
4| I was nursed in swaddling clothes, and with cares.
5| For no king ever had a different beginning of existence;
6| there is one entrance for all into life, and the same way out.
7| For this reason I prayed, and understanding was given to me; I called out, and a spirit of wisdom came to me.
8| I preferred her above scepters and thrones, and reckoned wealth as nothing in comparison with her;
9| nor did I liken any priceless stone to her, because all gold, seen next to her, is a little sand, and silver will be counted as clay before her.
10| I loved her more than health and beauty, and I chose to have her rather than light, because the radiance from her never sleeps.
11| All good things came to me together with her, and countless riches were in her hands.
12| And I rejoiced over all of them, because wisdom leads them, though I did not yet know that she was their source.
13| I learned without deceit, and I share without envy; I do not hide away her wealth.
14| For she is an unfailing treasure for human beings; those who acquire it secure friendship with God, commended to him by the gifts that come through instruction.
15| As for me, may God grant that I speak with judgment and think in a manner worthy of what has been given me, since he himself is the guide of wisdom and the corrector of the wise.
16| For within his grasp lie we ourselves as well as our speech, every kind of understanding and craft-skill.
17| For he himself gave me unerring knowledge of what exists, to know the structure of the world and the working of the elements,
18| the beginning and end and midpoint of times, the changes of the solstices and the shifting of seasons,
19| the cycles of years and the positions of the stars,
20| the natures of living things and the tempers of wild beasts, the strength of winds and how human minds reason, the differences among plants and the powers of roots.
21| And whatever is hidden or plain, I came to know.
22| For wisdom, the craftswoman of all things, instructed me. Within her dwells a spirit that is intelligent, holy, one of a kind, manifold, subtle, mobile, lucid, unstained, clear, unharmed, loving what is good, keen, unhindered, beneficent,
23| kind to mankind, steadfast, sure, free from care, all-powerful, all-surveying, and pervading all spirits, however intelligent, pure, and subtle they are.
24| For wisdom moves more readily than any motion; she pervades and passes through all things because of her purity.
25| For she is an exhalation of God's power, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing defiled can find its way into her.
26| For she is a reflection of everlasting light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness.
27| And though she is one, she is capable of all things; staying constant within herself she makes all things new, and passing from generation to generation into holy souls she makes them friends of God and prophets.
28| For God loves nothing so much as the one who dwells together with wisdom.
29| For she outshines the sun in beauty, and surpasses every arrangement of the stars. Compared with light, she is found to be superior;
30| for night succeeds the day, but wickedness has no power over wisdom.