Ecclesiasticus 43
How to read these pages: the text itself comes first, verse by verse, in the volume's own translation. Beneath each verse stands its Meaning — a rendering of what the passage's terms name in the inner life, drawn from the correspondences the text itself uses. The text is never altered; the meaning is offered, not imposed.
King James Version
1The pride of the height, the clear firmament, the beauty of heaven, with his glorious shew;
The pride of the height, the clear firmament — the expanse of awareness, clear — the beauty of heaven, the inner realm, with his glorious show;
2The sun when it appeareth, declaring at his rising a marvellous instrument, the work of the most High:
The sun when it appears, declaring at his rising a marvellous instrument, the work of the most High: the sun — Divine Love — rising to declare the Source's own workmanship.
3At noon it parcheth the country, and who can abide the burning heat thereof?
At noon it parches the country, and who can abide the burning heat thereof? — Divine Love at its full height searches the outer life without shade.
4A man blowing a furnace is in works of heat, but the sun burneth the mountains three times more; breathing out fiery vapours, and sending forth bright beams, it dimmeth the eyes.
A man blowing a furnace is in works of heat, but the sun burns the mountains — the exalted states — three times more; breathing out fiery vapours, and sending forth bright beams, it dims the eyes.
5Great is the Lord that made it; and at his commandment runneth hastily.
Great is the indwelling LORD that made it; and at his commandment it runs hastily.
6He made the moon also to serve in her season for a declaration of times, and a sign of the world.
He made the moon also to serve in her season for a declaration of times, and a sign of the world: the moon — Divine Wisdom, the reflected light — serving in her ordered season as the mark of the state's times.
7From the moon is the sign of feasts, a light that decreaseth in her perfection.
From the moon is the sign of feasts, a light that decreases in her perfection — Wisdom's reflected light waning even as it completes its cycle.
8The month is called after her name, increasing wonderfully in her changing, being an instrument of the armies above, shining in the firmament of heaven;
The month is called after her name, increasing wonderfully in her changing, being an instrument of the armies above, shining in the firmament of heaven — the expanse of the inner heaven;
9The beauty of heaven, the glory of the stars, an ornament giving light in the highest places of the Lord.
The beauty of heaven, the glory of the stars — the stars, spiritual ideas not yet full truth, fixed knowledges by which the mind steers — an ornament giving light in the highest places of the indwelling LORD.
10At the commandment of the Holy One they will stand in their order, and never faint in their watches.
At the commandment of the Holy One they will stand in their order, and never faint in their watches — the ruling lights keeping the hidden state's watch.
11Look upon the rainbow, and praise him that made it; very beautiful it is in the brightness thereof.
Look upon the rainbow — the covenant sign, the whole spectrum of divine life seen through the departing storm — and praise him that made it; very beautiful it is in the brightness thereof.
12It compasseth the heaven about with a glorious circle, and the hands of the most High have bended it.
It compasses the heaven about with a glorious circle, and the hands of the most High have bended it.
13By his commandment he maketh the snow to fall apace, and sendeth swiftly the lightnings of his judgment.
By his commandment he makes the snow to fall apace, and sends swiftly the lightnings of his judgment — the sudden flashes of the order confronting a state.
14Through this the treasures are opened: and clouds fly forth as fowls.
Through this the treasures are opened: and clouds fly forth as fowls — as soaring thoughts across the expanse.
15By his great power he maketh the clouds firm, and the hailstones are broken small.
By his great power he makes the clouds firm, and the hailstones are broken small.
16At his sight the mountains are shaken, and at his will the south wind bloweth.
At his sight the mountains — the exalted states — are shaken, and at his will the south wind blows.
17The noise of the thunder maketh the earth to tremble: so doth the northern storm and the whirlwind: as birds flying he scattereth the snow, and the falling down thereof is as the lighting of grasshoppers:
The noise of the thunder makes the earth — the outer life — to tremble: so does the northern storm and the whirlwind: as birds flying he scatters the snow, and the falling down thereof is as the lighting of grasshoppers:
18The eye marvelleth at the beauty of the whiteness thereof, and the heart is astonished at the raining of it.
The eye marvels at the beauty of the whiteness thereof, and the heart is astonished at the raining of it.
19The hoarfrost also as salt he poureth on the earth, and being congealed, it lieth on the top of sharp stakes.
The hoarfrost also as salt he pours on the earth, and being congealed, it lies on the top of sharp stakes.
20When the cold north wind bloweth, and the water is congealed into ice, it abideth upon every gathering together of water, and clotheth the water as with a breastplate.
When the cold north wind blows, and the water is congealed into ice, it abides upon every gathering together of water — every reservoir of thought stilled — and clothes the water as with a breastplate.
21It devoureth the mountains, and burneth the wilderness, and consumeth the grass as fire.
It devours the mountains, and burns the wilderness — the untended waste-state — and consumes the grass, the tender first thoughts, as fire.
22A present remedy of all is a mist coming speedily, a dew coming after heat refresheth.
A present remedy of all is a mist coming speedily, a dew coming after heat refreshes.
23By his counsel he appeaseth the deep, and planteth islands therein.
By his counsel he appeases the deep — the subconscious deep stilled by the order — and plants islands therein.
24They that sail on the sea tell of the danger thereof; and when we hear it with our ears, we marvel thereat.
They that sail on the sea — the great subconscious — tell of the danger thereof; and when we hear it with our ears, we marvel thereat.
25For therein be strange and wondrous works, variety of all kinds of beasts and whales created.
For therein be strange and wondrous works, variety of all kinds of beasts and whales created — the great powers of the deep mind moving in the reservoir.
26By him the end of them hath prosperous success, and by his word all things consist.
By him the end of them has prosperous success, and by his word all things consist.
27We may speak much, and yet come short: wherefore in sum, he is all.
We may speak much, and yet come short: wherefore in sum, he is all.
28How shall we be able to magnify him? for he is great above all his works.
How shall we be able to magnify him? for he is great above all his works.
29The Lord is terrible and very great, and marvellous is his power.
The indwelling LORD is terrible and very great, and marvellous is his power.
30When ye glorify the Lord, exalt him as much as ye can; for even yet will he far exceed: and when ye exalt him, put forth all your strength, and be not weary; for ye can never go far enough.
When ye glorify the indwelling LORD, exalt him as much as ye can; for even yet will he far exceed: and when ye exalt him, put forth all your strength, and be not weary; for ye can never go far enough.
31Who hath seen him, that he might tell us? and who can magnify him as he is?
Who has seen him, that he might tell us? and who can magnify him as he is?
32There are yet hid greater things than these be, for we have seen but a few of his works.
There are yet hid greater things than these be, for we have seen but a few of his works.
33For the Lord hath made all things; and to the godly hath he given wisdom.
For the indwelling LORD has made all things; and to the godly has he given wisdom.
Companion volume to The Why Bible — the King James Apocrypha, rendered in its spiritual meanings. First final edition, October 2026.