Anonymous (Septuagint) · a new plain-English translation from the original language
1| She watched over the first-formed father of the world, who was created alone, and rescued him from his own transgression,
2| and gave him strength to master all things.
3| But when an unjust man turned aside from wisdom in his rage, he destroyed himself through his brother-murdering fury.
4| When because of him the earth was flooded, wisdom again brought deliverance, steering the righteous man by a paltry piece of wood.
5| She it was who, when the nations were confounded in agreement upon wickedness, found the righteous man, and kept him blameless before God, and preserved him strong even against his tenderness for his child.
6| She rescued a righteous man from among the perishing ungodly, as he fled the fire that came down upon the Five Cities—
7| of whose wickedness a smoking wasteland still stands as witness, with plants bearing fruit that never ripens, and a standing pillar of salt as a monument to a disbelieving soul.
8| For by passing wisdom by, they were harmed not only in failing to know the good, but they also left behind for the living a memorial of their folly, so that in the very things where they stumbled they could not even go unnoticed.
9| But wisdom rescued from hardships those who served her.
10| She guided a righteous man, a fugitive from his brother's wrath, along straight paths; she revealed to him God's realm, granting him understanding of sacred matters; she made him prosper in his labors, and increased the yield of his toil.
11| When men in their greed tried to overpower him, she remained at his side and gave him wealth.
12| She shielded him against his foes, and guarded him against those who lay in ambush, and gave him victory in a fierce struggle, so that he might learn that piety surpasses all other strength.
13| When a righteous man was sold, she did not abandon him, but rescued him from sin;
14| she descended with him into the pit, and did not abandon him in his bonds, until she brought him the ruler's scepter and dominion over those who had tyrannized him; she exposed those who had slandered him as liars, and gave him everlasting glory.
15| She rescued a holy people and a blameless offspring from a nation that oppressed them.
16| She entered into the soul of the Lord's servant, and stood against fearsome kings with wonders and signs.
17| She repaid the holy ones the wages of their labors, guided them along a marvelous way, and became for them a shelter by day and a flame of stars by night.
18| She brought them across the Red Sea, and led them through a great depth of water;
19| but their enemies she drowned, and cast them up again from the depths of the abyss.
20| Therefore the righteous stripped the ungodly of their spoils, and sang hymns, O Lord, to your holy name, and praised with one accord your hand that fought for them;
21| for wisdom opened the mouth of the mute, and made the tongues of infants speak clearly.