Sirach 43:1-8

Common English Bible

43 The pride of the heights
is the clear heavenly vault,
    the appearance of the sky
    in a vision of glory.
² The sun, when it appears,
announces at its rising
    what an amazing thing it is,
    a work of the Most High.
³ At noon it dries up the land,
    and who can endure its burning heat?
⁴ A person blows on a furnace,
working in its burning heat,
    but the sun is three times hotter
    when it burns up mountains.
    When it breathes out fiery vapors,
        and shines forth its rays, it blinds eyes.
⁵ Great is the Lord who made it;
    it speeds on its course by his command.
⁶ The moon stands at its proper time,^[a]
    a notification of times
    and an everlasting sign.
⁷ The sign for a feast comes from the moon,
    a luminous body that wanes
    when it completes its course.
⁸ The new moon shares the character
of its name,^[b]
    increasing wonderfully as it changes,
        a signal on high for armies,^[c]
        shining in the vault of the sky.