Reader
A reading from the Book of Ecclesiasticus 42:15-25

¹⁵ I will now call to mind the works of the Lord,
 and will declare what I have seen. By his works are made;
 and all his creatures do his will.
¹⁶The sun looks down on everything with its light,
 and the work of the Lord is full of his glory.
¹⁷The Lord has not empowered even his holy ones
 to recount all his marvellous works,which the Lord the Almighty has established
 so that the universe may stand firm in his glory.
¹⁸He searches out the abyss and the human heart;
 he understands their innermost secrets.For the Most High knows all that may be known;
 he sees from of old the things that are to come.
¹⁹He discloses what has been and what is to be,
 and he reveals the traces of hidden things.
²⁰No thought escapes him,
 and nothing is hidden from him.
²¹He has set in order the splendours of his wisdom;
 he is from all eternity one and the same.Nothing can be added or taken away,
 and he needs no one to be his counsellor.
²²How desirable are all his works,
 and how sparkling they are to see!
²³All these things live and remain for ever;
 each creature is preserved to meet a particular need.
²⁴All things come in pairs, one opposite to the other,
 and he has made nothing incomplete.
²⁵Each supplements the virtues of the other.
 Who could ever tire of seeing his glory?