A King Is Like Everyone Else

^1-2 Like every human being, I am mortal. I am a descendant of that first man, who was made from the soil. I was conceived from the sperm of a man, in the pleasure of intercourse. For nine months my flesh took shape in the blood of my mother's womb. ³ When I was born, I came into the world like anyone else. I began to breathe the same air we all breathe; and like everyone else, the first sound I made was a cry. ⁴ I was wrapped in cloths and cared for. ⁵ No king ever began life differently. ⁶ For all of us, there is one way into life, and there is one way out.

Solomon Declares His Love for Wisdom

^7 (A)Realizing that I was only human, I prayed and was given understanding. The spirit of Wisdom came to me. ⁸ I regarded her more highly than any throne or crown. Wealth was nothing compared to her. ⁹ Precious jewels could not equal her worth; beside Wisdom all the gold in the world is a handful of sand, and silver is nothing more than clay. ¹⁰ I valued her more than health and good looks. Hers is a brightness that never grows dim, and I preferred it to any other light.

¹¹ When Wisdom came to me, all good things came with her. She brought me untold riches. ¹² I was happy with them all, because Wisdom had brought them to me. I had not realized before that she was the source of all these things. ¹³ I was sincere in learning from her, and now I am glad to share what I learned. ¹⁴ No one can ever exhaust the treasures of Wisdom. Use those treasures and you are God's friends; he approves of what you learn from her.

¹⁵ I pray to God that my thoughts may be worthy of what I have learned, and that I may speak according to his will. He is Wisdom's guide; he gives correction to those who are wise. ¹⁶ We are under his power and authority—we ourselves, our words, all our understanding and skills. ¹⁷ It is he who gave me true knowledge of the forces of nature: what the world is made of; how the elements behave; ¹⁸ how the calendar is determined by the movements of the sun, the changing seasons, ¹⁹ the constellations, and the cycles of years. ²⁰ He has taught me about the nature of living creatures, the behavior of wild animals, the force of the winds, the reasoning powers of human beings, the different kinds of plants, and the use of their roots as medicine. ²¹ I learned things that were well known and things that had never been known before, ²² because Wisdom, who gave shape to everything that exists, was my teacher.

The Nature of Wisdom

The spirit of Wisdom is intelligent and holy. It is of one nature but reveals itself in many ways. It is not made of any material substance, and it moves about freely. It is clear, clean, and confident; it cannot be harmed.^[a] It loves what is good. It is sharp and unconquerable, ²³ kind, and a friend of humanity. It is dependable and sure, and has no worries. It has power over everything, and sees everything. It penetrates every spirit that is intelligent and pure, no matter how delicate its substance may be.

²⁴ Wisdom moves more easily than motion itself; she is so pure that she penetrates everything. ²⁵ She is a breath of God's power—a pure and radiant stream of glory from the Almighty. Nothing that is defiled can ever steal its way into Wisdom. ²⁶ She is a reflection of eternal light, a perfect mirror of God's activity and goodness. ²⁷ Even though Wisdom acts alone, she can do anything. She makes everything new, although she herself never changes. From generation to generation she enters the souls of holy people, and makes them God's friends and prophets. ²⁸ There is nothing that God loves more than people who are at home with Wisdom. ²⁹ Wisdom is more beautiful than the sun and all the constellations. She is better than light itself, ³⁰ because night always follows day, but evil never overcomes Wisdom.