8
Then my Creator, who created the universe, told me where I was to live. "Make your home in Israel,' he said. "The descendants of Jacob will be your people.'
9
He created me in eternity, before time began, and I will exist for all eternity to come.
10
I served him in the Sacred Tent and then made my home on Mount Zion.
11
He settled me in the Beloved City and gave me authority over Jerusalem.
12
I put down roots among an honored people whom the Lord had chosen as his own.
13
I grew tall, like the cedars in Lebanon, like the cypresses on Mount Hermon,
14
like the palm trees of Engedi, like the roses of Jericho, like beautiful olive trees in the fields, like plane trees growing by the water.
15
My breath was the spicy smell of cinnamon, of sweet perfume and finest myrrh, of stacte, onycha, and galbanum, the fragrant incense in the Sacred Tent.
16
Like an oak I spread out my branches, magnificent and graceful.
17
Like a grapevine I put out lovely shoots; my blossoms gave way to rich and glorious fruit.