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Wisdom 9

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1 θεὲ πατέρων καὶ κύριε τοῦ ἐλέους ὁ ποιήσας τὰ πάντα ἐν λόγῳ σου 2 καὶ τῇ σοφίᾳ σου κατασκευάσας ἄνθρωπον ἵνα δεσπόζῃ τῶν ὑπὸ σοῦ γενομένων κτισμάτων 3 καὶ διέπῃ τὸν κόσμον ἐν ὁσιότητι καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ἐν εὐθύτητι ψυχῆς κρίσιν κρίνῃ 4 δός μοι τὴν τῶν σῶν θρόνων πάρεδρον σοφίαν καὶ μή με ἀποδοκιμάσῃς ἐκ παίδων σου 5 ὅτι ἐγὼ δοῦλος σὸς καὶ υἱὸς τῆς παιδίσκης σου ἄνθρωπος ἀσθενὴς καὶ ὀλιγοχρόνιος καὶ ἐλάσσων ἐν συνέσει κρίσεως καὶ νόμων 6 κἂν γάρ τις ᾖ τέλειος ἐν υἱοῖς ἀνθρώπων τῆς ἀπὸ σοῦ σοφίας ἀπούσης εἰς οὐδὲν λογισθήσεται 7 σύ με προείλω βασιλέα λαοῦ σου καὶ δικαστὴν υἱῶν σου καὶ θυγατέρων 8 εἶπας οἰκοδομῆσαι ναὸν ἐν ὄρει ἁγίῳ σου καὶ ἐν πόλει κατασκηνώσεώς σου θυσιαστήριον μίμημα σκηνῆς ἁγίας ἣν προητοίμασας ἀ{P'} ἀρχῆς 9 καὶ μετὰ σοῦ ἡ σοφία ἡ εἰδυῖα τὰ ἔργα σου καὶ παροῦσα ὅτε ἐποίεις τὸν κόσμον καὶ ἐπισταμένη τί ἀρεστὸν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς σου καὶ τί εὐθὲς ἐν ἐντολαῖς σου 10 ἐξαπόστειλον αὐτὴν ἐξ ἁγίων οὐρανῶν καὶ ἀπὸ θρόνου δόξης σου πέμψον αὐτήν ἵνα συμπαροῦσά μοι κοπιάσῃ καὶ γνῶ τί εὐάρεστόν ἐστιν παρὰ σοί 11 οἶδε γὰρ ἐκείνη πάντα καὶ συνίει καὶ ὁδηγήσει με ἐν ταῖς πράξεσί μου σωφρόνως καὶ φυλάξει με ἐν τῇ δόξῃ αὐτῆς 12 καὶ ἔσται προσδεκτὰ τὰ ἔργα μου καὶ διακρινῶ τὸν λαόν σου δικαίως καὶ ἔσομαι ἄξιος θρόνων πατρός μου

1 God of our fathers, Lord of all mercy, thou by thy word hast made all things, 2 and thou in thy wisdom hast contrived man to rule thy creation, 3 to order the world by a law of right living and of just dealing, and give true award in the honest purpose of his heart. 4 Wisdom I ask of thee, the same wisdom that dwells so near thy throne; do not grudge me a place among thy retinue. 5 Am I not thy servant, and to thy service born? Mortal man thou seest me, the puny creature of an hour, a mind unapt for judgement and the making of laws. 6 Grow man to what perfection he will, if he lacks the wisdom that comes from thee, he is nothing; 7 and me thou hast chosen to reign over thy people; from me sons and daughters of thine must seek for redress! 8 More than this, thou hast bidden me raise thee temple and altar, upon this mountain, in the holy city where thou dwellest, model of that holy tabernacle, made long ago, whose pattern was of thy own devising.[1] 9 Wisdom was with thee then,[2] privy to all thy designs, she who stood by thee at the world’s creation, and knows thy whole will, the whole tenour of thy commandments. 10 From that heavenly sanctuary, that high throne of thine, send her out still on thy errand, to be at my side too, and share my labours! How else should thy will be made clear to me? 11 For her, no secret, no riddle is too dark; her prudent counsel will be my guide, the fame of her my protection. 12 So shall my task be accomplished as thou wouldst have it be; so shall I give this people of thine just awards, no unworthy heir of the throne my father left me.

1

Deus patrum meorum, et Domine misericordiæ,
qui fecisti omnia verbo tuo, 2
et sapientia tua constituisti hominem,
ut dominaretur creaturæ quæ a te facta est, 3
ut disponat orbem terrarum in æquitate et justitia,
et in directione cordis judicium judicet: 4
da mihi sedium tuarum assistricem sapientiam,
et noli me reprobare a pueris tuis: 5
quoniam servus tuus sum ego, et filius ancillæ tuæ;
homo infirmus, et exigui temporis,
et minor ad intellectum judicii et legum. 6
Nam etsi quis erit consummatus inter filios hominum,
si ab illo abfuerit sapientia tua, in nihilum computabitur. 7
Tu elegisti me regem populo tuo,
et judicem filiorum tuorum et filiarum: 8
et dixisti me ædificare templum in monte sancto tuo,
et in civitate habitationis tuæ altare:
similitudinem tabernaculi sancti tui quod præparasti ab initio. 9
Et tecum sapientia tua, quæ novit opera tua,
quæ et affuit tunc cum orbem terrarum faceres,
et sciebat quid esset placitum oculis tuis,
et quid directum in præceptis tuis. 10
Mitte illam de cælis sanctis tuis,
et a sede magnitudinis tuæ,
ut mecum sit et mecum laboret,
ut sciam quid acceptum sit apud te: 11
scit enim illa omnia, et intelligit,
et deducet me in operibus meis sobrie,
et custodiet me in sua potentia. 12
Et erunt accepta opera mea,
et disponam populum tuum juste,
et ero dignus sedium patris mei.

13 τίς γὰρ ἄνθρωπος γνώσεται βουλὴν θεοῦ ἢ τίς ἐνθυμηθήσεται τί θέλει ὁ κύριος 14 λογισμοὶ γὰρ θνητῶν δειλοί καὶ ἐπισφαλεῖς αἱ ἐπίνοιαι ἡμῶν 15 φθαρτὸν γὰρ σῶμα βαρύνει ψυχήν καὶ βρίθει τὸ γεῶδες σκῆνος νοῦν πολυφρόντιδα 16 καὶ μόλις εἰκάζομεν τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς καὶ τὰ ἐν χερσὶν εὑρίσκομεν μετὰ πόνου τὰ δὲ ἐν οὐρανοῖς τίς ἐξιχνίασεν 17 βουλὴν δέ σου τίς ἔγνω εἰ μὴ σὺ ἔδωκας σοφίαν καὶ ἔπεμψας τὸ ἅγιόν σου πνεῦμα ἀπὸ ὑψίστων 18 καὶ οὕτως διωρθώθησαν αἱ τρίβοι τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς καὶ τὰ ἀρεστά σου ἐδιδάχθησαν ἄνθρωποι 19 καὶ τῇ σοφίᾳ ἐσώθησαν

13 What God’s purpose is, how should man discover, how should his mind master the secret of the divine will? 14 So hesitating our human thoughts, so hazardous our conjectures! 15 Ever the soul is weighed down by a mortal body, earth-bound cell that clogs the manifold activity of its thought. 16 Hard enough to read the riddle of our life here, with laborious search ascertaining what lies so close to hand; and would we trace out heaven’s mysteries too? 17 Thy purposes none may know, unless thou dost grant thy gift of wisdom, sending out from high heaven thy own holy spirit. 18 Thus ever were men guided by the right way, here on earth, and learned to know thy will; 19 ever since the world began wisdom was the salve they used, that have won thy favour.[3]

13
Quis enim hominum poterit scire consilium Dei?
aut quis poterit cogitare quid velit Deus? 14
Cogitationes enim mortalium timidæ,
et incertæ providentiæ nostræ; 15
corpus enim quod corrumpitur aggravat animam,
et terrena inhabitatio deprimit sensum multa cogitantem. 16
Et difficile æstimamus quæ in terra sunt,
et quæ in prospectu sunt invenimus cum labore:
quæ autem in cælis sunt, quis investigabit? 17
Sensum autem tuum, quis sciet, nisi tu dederis sapientiam,
et miseris spiritum sanctum tuum de altissimis, 18
et sic correctæ sint semitæ eorum qui sunt in terris,
et quæ tibi placent didicerint homines? 19
Nam per sapientiam sanati sunt
quicumque placuerunt tibi, Domine, a principio.

[1] Literally, ‘Which thou didst make ready beforehand from the beginning’. The rendering given assumes a reference to the tabernacle in the desert, and the pattern of it shewn to Moses on Mount Sinai. Others would interpret the verse as alluding to God’s dwelling-place in heaven.

[2] Or perhaps, ‘Wisdom is ever at thy side’.

[3] This verse is represented in the Greek text by four words, meaning ‘And were saved (or, healed) by wisdom’.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd