Sirach · Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
Sirach 24 Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
DRB Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
WEB World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)
1 Wisdom shall praise her own self, and shall be honoured in God, and shall glory in the midst of her people,
1 Wisdom will praise her own soul, and will proclaim her glory in the midst of her people.
2 And shall open her mouth in the churches of the most High, and shall glorify herself in the sight of his power,
2 She will open her mouth in the congregation of the Most High, and proclaim her glory in the presence of his power.
3 And in the midst of her own people she shall be exalted, and shall be admired in the holy assembly.
3 “I came out of the mouth of the Most High, and covered the earth as a mist.
4 And in the multitude of the elect she shall have praise, and among the blessed she shall be blessed, saying:
4 I lived in high places, and my throne is in the pillar of the cloud.
5 I came out of the mouth of the most High, the firstborn before all creatures:
5 Alone I surrounded the circuit of heaven, and walked in the depth of the abyss.
6 I made that in the heavens there should rise light that never faileth, and as a cloud I covered all the earth:
6 In the waves of the sea, and in all the earth, and in every people and nation, I obtained a possession.
7 I dwelt in the highest places, and my throne is in a pillar of a cloud.
7 With all these I sought rest. In whose inheritance shall I lodge?
8 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,
8 Then the Creator of all things gave me a command. He who created me made my tent to rest, and said, ‘Let your dwelling be in Jacob, and your inheritance in Israel.’
9 And have stood in all the earth: and in every people,
9 He created me from the beginning, before the ages. For all ages, I will not cease to exist.
10 And in every nation I have had the chief rule:
10 In the holy tabernacle, I ministered before him. So I was established in Zion.
11 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.
11 In the beloved city, likewise he gave me rest. In Jerusalem was my domain.
12 Then the creator of all things commanded, and said to me: and he that made me, rested in my tabernacle,
12 I took root in a people that was honored, even in the portion of the Lord’s own inheritance.
13 And he said to me: Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thy inheritance in Israel, and take root in my elect.
13 I was exalted like a cedar in Lebanon, And like a cypress tree on the mountains of Hermon.
14 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.
14 I was exalted like a palm tree on the sea shore, like rose bushes in Jericho, and like a fair olive tree in the plain. I was exalted like a plane tree.
15 And so was I established in Sion, and in the holy city likewise I rested, and my power was in Jerusalem.
15 Like cinnamon and aspalathus, I have given a scent to perfumes. Like choice myrrh, I spread abroad a pleasant fragrance, like galbanum, onycha, stacte, and as the smell of frankincense in the tabernacle.
16 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.
16 Like the terebinth, I stretched out my branches. My branches are glorious and graceful.
17 I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress tree on mount Sion.
17 Like the vine, I put forth grace. My flowers are the fruit of glory and riches.
18 I was exalted like a palm tree in Cades, and as a rose plant in Jericho:
18 Not in this translation
19 As a fair olive tree in the plains, and as a plane tree by the water in the streets, was I exalted.
19 “Come to me, all you who desire me, and be filled with my fruits.
20 I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon. and aromatical balm: I yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh:
20 For my memory is sweeter than honey, and my inheritance than the honeycomb.
21 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.
21 Those who eat me will be hungry for more. Those who drink me will be thirsty for more.
22 I have stretched out my branches as the turpentine tree, and my branches are of honour and grace.
22 He who obeys me will not be ashamed. Those who work with me will not sin.”
23 As the vine I have brought forth a pleasant odour: and my flowers are the fruit of honour and riches.
23 All these things are the book of the covenant of the Most High God, the law which Moses commanded us for an inheritance for the assemblies of Jacob.
24 I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope.
24 Not in this translation
25 In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue.
25 It is he who makes wisdom abundant, as Pishon, and as Tigris in the days of first fruits.
26 Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits.
26 He makes understanding full as the Euphrates, and as the Jordan in the days of harvest,
27 For my spirit is sweet above honey, and my inheritance above honey and the honeycomb.
27 who makes instruction shine forth as the light, as Gihon in the days of vintage.
28 My memory is unto everlasting generations.
28 The first man didn’t know her perfectly. In like manner, the last has not explored her.
29 They that eat me, shall yet hunger: and they that drink me, shall yet thirst.
29 For her thoughts are filled from the sea, and her counsels from the great deep.
30 He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin.
30 I came out as a canal stream from a river, and as an irrigation ditch into a garden.
31 They that explain me shall have life everlasting.
31 I said, “I will water my garden, and will drench my garden bed.” Behold, my stream became a river, and my river became a sea.
32 All these things are the book of life, and the covenant of the most High, and the knowledge of truth.
32 I will yet bring instruction to light as the morning, and will make these things clear from far away.
33 Moses commanded a law in the precepts of justices, and an inheritance to the house of Jacob, and the promises to Israel.
33 I will continue to pour out teaching like prophecy, and leave it to all generations.
34 He appointed to David his servant to raise up of him a most mighty king, and sitting on the throne of glory for ever.
34 See that I have not labored for myself only, but for all those who diligently seek wisdom.
35 Who filleth up wisdom as the Phison, and as the Tigris in the days of the new fruits.
35 Not in this translation
36 Who maketh understanding to abound as the Euphrates, who multiplieth it as the Jordan in the time of harvest.
36 Not in this translation
37 Who sendeth knowledge as the light, and riseth up as Gehon in the time of the vintage.
37 Not in this translation
38 Who first hath perfect knowledge of her, and a weaker shall not search her out.
38 Not in this translation
39 For her thoughts are more vast than the sea, and her counsels more deep than the great ocean.
39 Not in this translation
40 I, wisdom, have poured out rivers.
40 Not in this translation
41 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.
41 Not in this translation
42 I said: I will water my garden of plants, and I will water abundantly the fruits of my meadow.
42 Not in this translation
43 And behold my brook became a great river, and my river came near to a sea:
43 Not in this translation
44 For I make doctrine to shine forth to all as the morning light, and I will declare it afar off.
44 Not in this translation
45 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.
45 Not in this translation
46 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.
46 Not in this translation
47 See ye that I have not laboured for myself only, but for all that seek out the truth.
47 Not in this translation
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… to have been emitted from the mouth of God; and if we believe that is the soul, we must consequently acknowledge it to be of the same substance, and equal to that wisdom, which says, "I come out of the mouth of the Most High." Wisdom, indeed, does not say it was breathed out of the mouth of God, but …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
For while He said, "Blessed are the hungry, for they shall be filled;" it is again said of Wisdom, "Those who eat Thee shall hunger again, and those who drink shall thirst again." Nay, but He did not say "again," but he said, "still:" for "shall thirst again" is as if once having been filled he departed and digested, and …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)