And so I prayed and understanding was given me;
I entreated, and the spirit of Wisdom came to me
I esteemed her more than sceptres and thrones;
compared with her,I held riches as nothing.
I reckoned no priceless stone to be her peer,
for compared with her, all gold is a pinch of sand,
and beside her silver ranks as mud.
I loved her more than health and beauty,
preferred her to the light,
since her radiance never sleeps.
In her company all good things came to me,
at her hands riches not to be numbered.
All these I delighted in, since Wisdom brings them,
but as yet I did not know she was their mother.
What I learned without self-interest, I pass on without reserve;
I do not intend to hide her riches.
For she is an inexhaustible treasure to men,
and those who acquire it win God's friendship,
commended as they are to Him by the benefits of her teaching.
