1. I myself also am mortal, like to all, And am sprung from one born of the earth, the man first formed,
2. And in the womb of a mother was I moulded into flesh in the time of ten months, Being compacted in blood of the seed of man and pleasure that came with sleep.
3. And I also, when I was born, drew in the common air, And fell upon the kindred earth, Uttering, like all, for my first voice, the selfsame wail:
4. In swaddling clothes was I nursed, and with watchful cares.
5. For no king had any other first beginning;
6. But all men have one entrance into life, and a like departure.
7. For this cause I prayed, and understanding was given me: I called upon God, and there came to me a spirit of wisdom.
8. I preferred her before sceptres and thrones, And riches I esteemed nothing in comparison of her.
9. Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem, Because all the gold of the earth in her presence is a little sand, And silver shall be accounted as clay before her.
10. Above health and comeliness I loved her, And I chose to have her rather than light, Because her bright shining is never laid to sleep.
11. But with her there came to me all good things together, And in her hands innumerable riches: