²¹ But I perceived that I would not possess wisdom unless God gave her to me—
and it was a mark of insight to know whose gift she was—
so I appealed to the Lord and besought him,
and with my whole heart I said:

9 “O God of my fathers and Lord of mercy,
who hast made all things by thy word,
² and by thy wisdom hast formed man,
to have dominion over the creatures thou hast made,
³ and rule the world in holiness and righteousness,
and pronounce judgment in uprightness of soul,
⁴ give me the wisdom that sits by thy throne,
and do not reject me from among thy servants.
⁵ For I am thy slave and the son of thy maidservant,
a man who is weak and short-lived,
with little understanding of judgment and laws;
⁶ for even if one is perfect among the sons of men,
yet without the wisdom that comes from thee he will be regarded as nothing.
⁷ Thou hast chosen me to be king of thy people
and to be judge over thy sons and daughters.
⁸ Thou hast given command to build a temple on thy holy mountain,
and an altar in the city of thy habitation,
a copy of the holy tent which thou didst prepare from the beginning.
⁹ With thee is wisdom, who knows thy works
and was present when thou didst make the world,
and who understands what is pleasing in thy sight
and what is right according to thy commandments.
¹⁰ Send her forth from the holy heavens,
and from the throne of thy glory send her,
that she may be with me and toil,
and that I may learn what is pleasing to thee.
¹¹ For she knows and understands all things,
and she will guide me wisely in my actions
and guard me with her glory.
¹² Then my works will be acceptable,
and I shall judge thy people justly,
and shall be worthy of the throne^[a] of my father.
¹³ For what man can learn the counsel of God?
Or who can discern what the Lord wills?
¹⁴ For the reasoning of mortals is worthless,
and our designs are likely to fail,
¹⁵ for a perishable body weighs down the soul,
and this earthy tent burdens the thoughtful^[b] mind.
¹⁶ We can hardly guess at what is on earth,
and what is at hand we find with labor;
but who has traced out what is in the heavens?
¹⁷ Who has learned thy counsel, unless thou hast given wisdom
and sent thy holy Spirit from on high?
¹⁸ And thus the paths of those on earth were set right,
and men were taught what pleases thee,
and were saved by wisdom.”

¹⁵ A holy people and blameless race
wisdom^[a] delivered from a nation of oppressors.
¹⁶ She entered the soul of a servant of the Lord,
and withstood dread kings with wonders and signs.
¹⁷ She gave holy men the reward of their labors;
she guided them along a marvelous way,
and became a shelter to them by day,
and a starry flame through the night.
¹⁸ She brought them over the Red Sea,
and led them through deep waters;
¹⁹ but she drowned their enemies,
and cast them up from the depth of the sea.
²⁰ Therefore the righteous plundered the ungodly;
they sang hymns, O Lord, to thy holy name,
and praised with one accord thy defending hand,
²¹ because wisdom opened the mouth of the dumb,
and made the tongues of babes speak clearly.

11 Wisdom^[b] prospered their works by the hand of a holy prophet.
² They journeyed through an uninhabited wilderness,
and pitched their tents in untrodden places.
³ They withstood their enemies and fought off their foes.
⁴ When they thirsted they called upon thee,
and water was given them out of flinty rock,
and slaking of thirst from hard stone.
⁵ For through the very things by which their enemies were punished,
they themselves received benefit in their need.
⁶ Instead of the fountain of an ever-flowing river,
stirred up and defiled with blood
⁷ in rebuke for the decree to slay the infants,
thou gavest them abundant water unexpectedly,
⁸ showing by their thirst at that time
how thou didst punish their enemies.
⁹ For when they were tried, though they were being disciplined in mercy,
they learned how the ungodly were tormented when judged in wrath.
¹⁰ For thou didst test them as a father does in warning,
but thou didst examine the ungodly^[c] as a stern king does in condemnation.

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”

¹¹ “Worthy art thou, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for thou didst create all things,
and by thy will they existed and were created.”