Ecclesiasticus 24
24
Wisdom and the World
1Wisdom shall praise herself, and shall glory in the midst of her people. 2In the congregation of the most High shall she open her mouth, and triumph before his power. 3#Wis 7.25; Gen 1.2; 2.6. I came out of the mouth of the most High, and covered the earth as a cloud. 4#Exod 14.19; 33.9,10. I dwelt in high places, and my throne is in a cloudy pillar. 5#Prov 8.27. I alone compassed the circuit of heaven, and walked in the bottom of the deep. 6In the waves of the sea, and in all the earth, and in every people and nation, I got a possession. 7With all these I sought rest: and in whose inheritance shall I abide?
Wisdom and Israel
8 #
Bar 3.36. So the Creator of all things gave me a commandment, and he that made me caused my tabernacle to rest, and said, Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thine inheritance in Israel. 9#Prov 8.22,23. He created me from the beginning before the world, and I shall never fail. 10In the holy tabernacle I served before him; and so was I established in Zion. 11Likewise in the beloved city he gave me rest, and in Jerusalem was my power. 12And I took root in an honorable people, even in the portion of the Lord's inheritance.
13I was exalted like a cedar in Lebanon, and as a cypress tree upon the mountains of Hermon. 14I was exalted like a palm tree in En–ge´di, and as a rose plant in Jericho, as a fair olive tree in a pleasant field, and grew up as a plane tree by the water. 15#Exod 30.34,36. I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aspalathus, and I yielded a pleasant odor like the best myrrh, as galbanum, and onyx, and sweet storax, and as the fume of frankincense in the tabernacle. 16As the turpentine tree I stretched out my branches, and my branches are the branches of honor and grace. 17As the vine brought I forth pleasant savor, and my flowers are the fruit of honor and riches. 18I am the mother of fair love, and fear, and knowledge, and holy hope: I therefore, being eternal, am given to all my children which are named of him.
Wisdom's Invitation
19 #
Prov 9.4,5; Isa 55.1,2. Come unto me, all ye that be desirous of me, and fill yourselves with my fruits. 20#Ps 19.10,11. For my memorial is sweeter than honey, and mine inheritance than the honeycomb. 21They that eat me shall yet be hungry, and they that drink me shall yet be thirsty. 22He that obeyeth me shall never be confounded, and they that work by me shall not do amiss.
Wisdom and the Law
23 #
Exod 24.7. All these things are the book of the covenant of the most high God, even the law which Moses commanded for an heritage unto the congregations of Jacob. 24#Isa 45.24. Faint not to be strong in the Lord; that he may confirm you, cleave unto him: for the Lord Almighty is God alone, and beside him there is no other Saviour. 25#Gen 2.11. He filleth all things with his wisdom, as Phison and as Tigris in the time of the new fruits. 26He maketh the understanding to abound like Euphra´tes, and as Jordan in the time of the harvest. 27#Gen 2.13. He maketh the doctrine of knowledge appear as the light, and as Gihon in the time of vintage. 28The first man knew her not perfectly: no more shall the last find her out. 29For her thoughts are more than the sea, and her counsels profounder than the great deep.
The Writer Compares Himself to a Brook
30I also came out as a brook from a river, and as a conduit into a garden. 31I said, I will water my best garden, and will water abundantly my garden bed: and, lo, my brook became a river, and my river became a sea. 32I will yet make doctrine to shine as the morning, and will send forth her light afar off. 33I will yet pour out doctrine as prophecy, and leave it to all ages for ever. 34Behold that I have not labored for myself only, but for all them that seek wisdom.
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Ecclesiasticus 24: KJVAAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.