SIRACH 43...
1/ The clear vault of the sky shines forth like heaven itself, a vision of glory.
2/ The orb of the sun, resplendent at its rising: what a wonderful work of the Most High!
3/ At noon it seethes the surface of the earth, and who can bear its fiery heat?
4/ Like a blazing furnace of solid
metal, it sets the mountains aflame with its rays; By its fiery darts
the land is consumed; the eyes are dazzled by its light.
5/Great indeed is the LORD who made it, at whose orders it urges on its steeds.
6/ The moon, too, that marks the changing times, governing the seasons, their lasting sign,
7/ By which we know the feast days and fixed dates, this light-giver which wanes in its course:
8/ As its name says, each month it renews itself; how wondrous in this change!
9/ The beauty, the glory, of the heavens are the stars that adorn with their sparkling the heights of God,
10/ At whose command they keep their
place and never relax in their vigils. A weapon against the flood
waters stored on high, lighting up the firmament by its brilliance,
11/ Behold the rainbow! Then bless its Maker, for majestic indeed is its splendor;
12/ It spans the heavens with its glory, this bow bent by the mighty hand of God.
13/ His rebuke marks out the path for the lightning, and speeds the arrows of his judgment to their goal.
14/ At it the storehouse is opened, and like vultures the clouds hurry forth.
15/ In his majesty he gives the storm its power and breaks off the hailstones.
16/ The thunder of his voice makes the earth writhe; before his might the mountains quake.
17/ A word from him drives on the south wind, the angry north wind, the hurricane and the storm.
18/ He sprinkles the snow like fluttering birds; it comes to settle like swarms of locusts.
19/ Its shining whiteness blinds the eyes, the mind is baffled by its steady fall.
20/ He scatters frost like so much salt; it shines like blossoms on the thornbush.
21/ Cold northern blasts he sends
that turn the ponds to lumps of ice. He freezes over every body of
water, and clothes each pool with a coat of mail.
22/ When the mountain growth is scorched with heat, and the flowering plains as though by flames,
23/ The dripping clouds restore them all, and the scattered dew enriches the parched land.
24/ His is the plan that calms the deep, and plants the islands in the sea.
25/ Those who go down to the sea tell part of its story, and when we hear them we are thunderstruck;
26/ In it are his creatures, stupendous, amazing, all kinds of life, and the monsters of the deep.
27/ For him each messenger succeeds, and at his bidding accomplishes his will.
28/ More than this we need not add; let the last word be, he is all in all!
29/ Let us praise him the more, since we cannot fathom him, for greater is he than all his works;
30/ Awful indeed is the LORD'S majesty, and wonderful is his power.
31/ Lift up your voices to glorify the LORD, though he is still beyond your power to praise;
32/ Extol him with renewed strength, and weary not, though you cannot reach the end:
33/ For who can see him and describe him? or who can praise him as he is?
34/ Beyond these, many things lie hid; only a few of his works have we seen.
35/ It is the LORD who has made all things, and to those who fear him he gives wisdom.
1 comment:
A republished post, just to remind us of HIS SPLENDOR, BEAUTY, and LOVE...
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