Ben Sira 43:1-7

1 THE firmament on high is his beauty, the beauty of heaven with its glorious shew.

2 The sun when he appeareth shewing forth at his rising, an admirable instrument, the work of the most High.

3 At noon he burneth the earth, and who can abide his burning heat? As one keeping a furnace in the works of heat:

4 The sun three times as much, burneth the mountains, breathing out fiery vapours, and shining with his beams, he blindeth the eyes.

5 Great is the Lord that made him, and at his words he hath hastened his course.

6 And the moon in all in her season, is for a declaration of times and a sign of the world.

7 From the moon is the sign of the festival day, a light that decreaseth in her perfection.