Sirach 43

The pride of the height, the clear firmament,

The beauty of heaven, with his glorious shew;

²The sun when it appeareth, declaring at his rising

A marvellous instrument, the work of the most High:

³At noon it parcheth the country,

And who can abide the burning heat thereof?

⁴A man blowing a furnace is in works of heat,

But the sun burneth the mountains three times more;

Breathing out fiery vapours,

And sending forth bright beams, it dimmeth the eyes.

⁵Great is the Lord that made it;

And at his commandment ^ait runneth hastily.

^6bHe made the moon also to serve in her season

For a declaration of times, and ^ca sign of the world.

^7dFrom the moon is the sign of feasts, a light that decreaseth in her perfection.

⁸The month is called ^eafter her name, increasing wonderfully in her changing,

Being an instrument of the ^farmies above, shining in the firmament of heaven;

⁹The beauty of heaven, the glory of the stars,

An ornament giving light ^gin the highest places of the Lord.

¹⁰At the commandment of the Holy One they will stand in their order,

And never faint ^hin their watches.

¹¹ⁱLook upon the ^krainbow, and praise him that made it;

Very beautiful it is in the brightness thereof.

¹²It compasseth the heaven about with a glorious circle,

And ^lthe hands of the most High have bended it.

^13mBy his commandment he ⁿmaketh the snow to fall apace,

And sendeth swiftly the lightnings of his judgment.

¹⁴Through this ^othe treasures are opened:

And clouds fly forth as fowls.

¹⁵By his great power he maketh the clouds firm,

And ^pthe hailstones are broken small.

^16qAt his sight the mountains are shaken,

And at his will the south wind bloweth.

^17rThe noise of the thunder maketh the earth to tremble:

So doth the northern storm and the whirlwind:

^mAs birds flying he scattereth the snow,

And the falling down thereof is as the lighting of ^sgrasshoppers:

¹⁸The eye marvelleth at the beauty of the whiteness thereof,

And the heart is astonished at the raining of it.

^19mThe hoar frost also as salt he poureth on the earth,

And being congealed, it lieth on the top of sharp stakes.

²⁰When the cold north wind bloweth,

And the water is congealed into ice,

It abideth upon every ^tgathering together of water,

And clotheth the water as with a breastplate.

²¹It devoureth the mountains, and burneth the wilderness,

And consumeth the grass as fire.

²²A present remedy of all is a mist coming speedily:

A dew coming after heat refresheth.

²³By his counsel he appeaseth the deep,

And planteth islands therein.

^24uThey that ^vsail on the sea tell of the danger thereof;

And when we hear it with our ears, we marvel thereat.

^25wFor therein be ^xstrange and wondrous works,

Variety of all kinds of beasts and whales created.

²⁶By him the end of them hath ^yprosperous success,

And ^zby his word all things consist.

²⁷We may speak much, and yet ^acome short;

Wherefore in sum, he is all.

^28aHow shall we be able to magnify him?

For he is great above all his works.

^29bThe Lord is terrible And very great,

And marvellous is his power.

³⁰When you glorify the Lord, exalt him as much as you can;

For even yet will he far exceed:

And when you exalt him, put forth all your strength,

And be not weary; for you can never go far enough.

^31cWho hath ^dseen him, that he might tell us?

And who can magnify him as he is?

^32eThere are yet hid greater things than these be,

For we have seen but a few of his works.

³³For the Lord hath made all things;

And to the godly hath he given wisdom.

XLIV.