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.