1 ‘O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, a soul in straits and a spirit of weariness cries out to You.
2 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against You.
3 You endure forever, but we are perishing forever.
4 O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, hear the prayer of the dead of Israel and of the sons who have sinned against You, who have not obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, so calamities have clung to us.
5 Do not remember the wrongdoings of our fathers, but remember Your hand and Your name in this time.
6 For You are the Lord our God, and You we will praise, O Lord.
7 On account of this You granted in our hearts the fear of You, to call upon Your name, and we shall praise You in our exile, because we will turn away from our hearts all the iniquities of our fathers who sinned against You.
8 Behold, today we are in our exile, where You have scattered us to be a reproach and a curse and a punishment for all the iniquities of our fathers, who fell away from the Lord our God.’ ”
9 Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life; give ear to know wisdom.
10 Why is it, O Israel, that you are in the land of your enemies, that you have grown old in a foreign land,
11 that you are defiled with the dead and counted among those in Hades?
12 You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom.
13 If you had walked in the way of God, you would have dwelt in peace forever.
14 Learn where wisdom is, where strength is, where understanding is, so at the same time you may know where length of days and life are, where peace is and the light of the eyes.
15 Who has found her place? Who has entered into her treasures?
16 Where are the rulers of the nations and those who ruled over the wild animals of the earth;
17 those who sport with the birds of the air and those hoarding silver and gold, in which men trust (and there is no end to the acquisition of these), †
18 those who scheme to obtain silver and are anxious, whose works are unsearchable?
19 They vanish and descend into Hades, and others have risen up to take their place.
20 Young men have seen the light and dwelt in the land, but they have not known the way of knowledge,
21 nor practiced it, nor understood her paths; their sons are far from her path.
22 It has not been heard in Canaan, nor seen in Tamar;
23 the sons of Hagar, who seek understanding on the earth, the merchants of Merra and of Tamar, the storytellers and those who search out understanding—none of these have learned the way of wisdom nor remember her paths. They do not know.
24 O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how far-reaching the place He possesses!
25 It is great and has no end; it is high and immeasurable.
26 The giants born there, those renowned from the beginning, being very large in size and skilled in war,
27 God did not choose them nor grant them the way of knowledge.
28 Instead, they perished because they failed to attain to wisdom; they perished through their thoughtless counsel.
29 Who has gone up into heaven and taken hold of her, and brought her down from the clouds?
30 Who has crossed the sea and found her, and brought her back for pure gold?
31 No one knows her way, nor does anyone ponder her path.
32 But the One who knows all things knows her; He has found her by His understanding—He who formed the earth for all time, who filled it with four-footed creatures;
33 the One who sends forth the light and it goes out; the One who calls to it, and it obeys with fear.
34 The stars shone in their watches and rejoiced.
35 He called them and they said, “Here we are!” They shone with gladness for Him who made them.
36 This is our God; no other shall be compared to Him.
37 He found the whole way of knowledge and gave it to Jacob His servant and to Israel His beloved.
38 Afterwards, He was seen upon the earth and lived among men