Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 43

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¹The firmament of highness is the fairness thereof or The firmament of the height is the fairness of him; the fairness of heaven in the sight of glory.

²The sun in beholding, telling in going out, is a wonderful vessel, the work of high God. The sun in the sight, showing out in the issue, a marvellous vessel, the work of the High.

³In the time of midday it burneth the earth; and who shall be able to suffer in the sight of his heat?

⁴Keeping a furnace in the works of heat; the sun burning hills in three manners, sending out beams of fire or blasting out fiery beams, and shining again with his beams, blind-eth eyes.

⁵The Lord is great or Great is the Lord, that made it; and in the words of him it hasted its journey.

⁶And the moon in all men in his time is showing of time, and a sign of the world. And the moon in all things in his time showing of time, and token of the spiritual world.

⁷A sign of the feast or holy day is taken of the moon; the light which is made little in the end.

⁸The month is increasing or wax-ing by the name thereof, wonderfully into the ending. A vessel of castles or tents in high things, shining glorious-ly in the firmament of heaven.

⁹The fairness of heaven is the glory of stars; the Lord on high lighteneth the world.

¹⁰In the words of the Holy, those shall stand at the doom; and those shall not fail in their wakings or they shall not fail in their watches.

¹¹See thou the rainbow, and bless thou him that made it; it is full fair in his shining.

¹²It went about heaven in the com-pass or the circuit of his glory; the hands of high God or of the High opened it.

¹³By his commandment he hasted the snow; and he hasteth to send out the lightnings of his doom.

¹⁴Therefore the treasures were opened, and the clouds fled out as bees or flew away as birds.

¹⁵In his greatness he setted or put the clouds; and stones of hail were broken.

¹⁶The Hills shall be moved in his sight; and the south wind shall blow in his will.

¹⁷The voice of his thunder shall beat or beateth the earth; the tempest of the north, and the gathering together of wind. And as a bird putting down to sit sprinkleth snow, and the coming down of that snow is as a locust drowning down.

¹⁸The eye shall wonder or marvel on the fairness of whiteness thereof; and an heart dreadeth or quaketh on the rain thereof.

¹⁹He shall shed or pour out frost as salt up on the earth; and while the wind bloweth, it shall be made as cops or tops of a briar or bramble bush.

²⁰The cold northern wind blew, and crystal of water froze together or the crystal freezed from the water; it resteth on all the gathering together of waters, and it clotheth itself with waters, as with an habergeon.

²¹And it shall devour hills, and it shall burn the desert; and it shall quench the green thing as fire.

²²The medicine of all things is in the hasting or hieing of a cloud; a dew, meeting the heat coming of burning, shall make it low.

²³The wind was still in the word of God; by his thought he made peaceable the depth of waters; and the Lord Jesus, that is, God, which is Saviour of all men, planted it. In his word the wind held his peace; by his thinking he shall peace the sea; and the Lord Jesus planted it.

²⁴They that sail in the sea, tell out the perils thereof; and we hearing with our ears, shall wonder.

²⁵There be full clear works, and wonderful or marvellous, diverse kinds of beasts, and of all little beasts, and the creatures of wonderful fishes.

²⁶The end of way is confirmed for it; and all things be made in the word of him. For him is confirmed the end of the way; and in the word of him all things be made together.

²⁷We say many things, and we fail in words; forsooth he is the full ending of words.

²⁸To what thing shall we be mighty, that have glory in all things? for he is all-mighty above or over all his works.

²⁹The Lord is fearedful, and full great; and his power is wonderful or marvellous.

³⁰Glorify ye the Lord as much as ever ye may, yet he shall be mightier; and his great doing is wonderful or marvellous. Ye blessing the Lord, enhance him as much as ye may; for he is more than all praising. Ye enhancing him shall be filled with virtue; travail ye not to know God perfectly in this life, for ye shall not take it perfectly, that is, for it is unpossible, or ye shall not full come.

³¹Who saw him, and shall tell it out? and who shall magnify him, as he is from the beginning?

³²Many things greater than these be hid from us; for we have seen few things of his works.

³³Forsooth the Lord made all things; and he gave wisdom to men doing faithfully or piously.