Sirach 43

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

43 The pride of the heavenly heights is the clear firmament,
    the appearance of heaven in a spectacle of glory.
² The sun, when it appears, making proclamation as it goes forth,
    is a marvelous instrument, the work of the Most High.
³ At noon it parches the land;
    and who can withstand its burning heat?
⁴ A man tending^[a] a furnace works in burning heat,
    but the sun burns the mountains three times as much;
it breathes out fiery vapors,
    and with bright beams it blinds the eyes.
⁵ Great is the Lord who made it;
    and at his command it hastens on its course.

⁶ He made the moon also, to serve in its season^[b]
    to mark the times and to be an everlasting sign.
⁷ From the moon comes the sign for feast days,
    a light that wanes when it has reached the full.
⁸ The month is named for the moon,
    increasing marvelously in its phases,
an instrument of the hosts on high
    shining forth in the firmament of heaven.

⁹ The glory of the stars is the beauty of heaven,
    a gleaming array in the heights of the Lord.
¹⁰ At the command of the Holy One they stand as ordered,
    they never relax in their watches.
¹¹ Look upon the rainbow, and praise him who made it,
    exceedingly beautiful in its brightness.
¹² It encircles the heaven with its glorious arc;
    the hands of the Most High have stretched it out.

¹³ By his command he sends the driving snow
    and speeds the lightnings of his judgment.
¹⁴ Therefore the storehouses are opened,
    and the clouds fly forth like birds.
¹⁵ In his majesty he amasses the clouds,
    and the hailstones are broken in pieces.
¹⁶ At his appearing the mountains are shaken;
    at his will the south wind blows.
¹⁷ The voice of his thunder rebukes the earth;
    so do the tempest from the north and the whirlwind.
He scatters the snow like birds flying down,
    and its descent is like locusts alighting.
¹⁸ The eye marvels at the beauty of its whiteness,
    and the mind is amazed at its falling.
¹⁹ He pours the hoarfrost upon the earth like salt,
    and when it freezes, it becomes pointed thorns.
²⁰ The cold north wind blows,
    and ice freezes over the water;
it rests upon every pool of water,
    and the water puts it on like a breastplate.
²¹ He consumes the mountains and burns up the wilderness,
    and withers the tender grass like fire.
²² A mist quickly heals all things;
    when the dew appears, it refreshes from the heat.