The Wisdom of Solomon 8:16-21

[16] When I enter my house, I shall find rest with her,

for companionship with her has no bitterness,
and life with her has no pain, but gladness and joy.
[17] When I considered these things inwardly,
and thought upon them in my mind,
that in kinship with wisdom there is immortality,
[18] and in friendship with her, pure delight,
and in the labors of her hands, unfailing wealth,
and in the experience of her company, understanding,
and renown in sharing her words,
I went about seeking how to get her for myself.
[19] As a child I was by nature well endowed,
and a good soul fell to my lot;
[20] or rather, being good, I entered an undefiled body.
[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: . . .

IMAGE: Giovanni Domenico Cerrini, An Allegory of Wisdom (c. 1660)