¹Does not wisdom call, And understanding lift up her voice? ²On top of the heights beside the way, Where the paths meet, she takes her stand; ³Beside the gates, at the opening to the city, At the entrance of the doors, she cries out: ⁴"To you, O men, I call, And my voice is to the sons of men. ⁵"O naive ones, understand prudence; And, O fools, understand wisdom. ⁶"Listen, for I will speak noble things; And the opening of my lips will reveal right things. ⁷"For my mouth will utter truth; And wickedness is an abomination to my lips. ⁸"All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness; There is nothing crooked or perverted in them. ⁹"They are all straightforward to him who understands, And right to those who find knowledge. ¹⁰"Take my instruction and not silver, And knowledge rather than choicest gold. ¹¹"For wisdom is better than jewels; And all desirable things cannot compare with her. ¹²"I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And I find knowledge and discretion. ¹³"The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate. ¹⁴" Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine. ¹⁵"By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice. ¹⁶"By me princes rule, and nobles, All who judge rightly. ¹⁷"I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me. ¹⁸" Riches and honor are with me, Enduring wealth and righteousness. ¹⁹"My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, And my yield better than choicest silver. ²⁰"I walk in the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of justice, ²¹To endow those who love me with wealth, That I may fill their treasuries. ²²"The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old. ²³"From everlasting I was established, From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth. ²⁴"When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no springs abounding with water. ²⁵" Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills I was brought forth; ²⁶While He had not yet made the earth and the fields, Nor the first dust of the world. ²⁷"When He established the heavens, I was there, When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, ²⁸When He made firm the skies above, When the springs of the deep became fixed, ²⁹When He set for the sea its boundary So that the water would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth; ³⁰Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him, ³¹Rejoicing in the world, His earth, And having my delight in the sons of men. ³²"Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, For blessed are they who keep my ways. ³³" Heed instruction and be wise, And do not neglect it. ³⁴" Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at my doorposts. ³⁵"For he who finds me finds life And obtains favor from the LORD. ³⁶"But he who sins against me injures himself; All those who hate me love death."

"The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old. "From everlasting I was established, From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth. "When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no springs abounding with water.