| Prov. 8:1 |
Does not wisdom call, / And understanding lift up her voice? |
| Prov. 8:2 |
On the top of the heights, by the way, / Where the paths meet, she takes her stand; |
| Prov. 8:3 |
Beside the gates, at the entry of the city, / At the entrance of the doors, she cries aloud: |
| Prov. 8:4 |
To you, O men, I call; / And my voice is to the sons of men. |
| Prov. 8:5 |
O simple ones, understand prudence; / And, O fools, be of an understanding heart. |
| Prov. 8:6 |
Hear, for I will speak noble things; / And the opening of my lips [will yield] right things. |
| Prov. 8:7 |
For my mouth will utter truth, / And wickedness is an abomination to my lips. |
| Prov. 8:8 |
All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; / There is nothing twisted or crooked in them. |
| Prov. 8:9 |
They are all straight to him who understands, / And right to those who find knowledge. |
| Prov. 8:10 |
Receive my instruction, and not silver; / And knowledge rather than choice gold. |
| Prov. 8:11 |
For wisdom is better than corals, / And nothing that [you] desire compares with her. |
| Prov. 8:12 |
I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, / And I find knowledge [and] discretion. |
| Prov. 8:13 |
The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil; / Pride and arrogance and the evil way / And the perverse mouth, I hate. |
| Prov. 8:14 |
Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; / I am understanding; I have might. |
| Prov. 8:15 |
By me kings reign, / And rulers decree justice. |
| Prov. 8:16 |
By me princes rule, / And nobles--all who judge righteously. |
| Prov. 8:17 |
I love those who love me, / And those who seek me diligently will find me. |
| Prov. 8:18 |
Riches and honor are with me, / Enduring wealth and righteousness. |
| Prov. 8:19 |
My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold; / And my yield than choice silver. |
| Prov. 8:20 |
I walk in the way of righteousness, / In the midst of the paths of justice, |
| Prov. 8:21 |
That I may cause those who love me to inherit substance / And that I may fill their treasuries. |
| Prov. 8:22 |
Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of His way, / Before His works of old. |
| Prov. 8:23 |
I was set up from eternity, / From the beginning, before the earth was. |
| Prov. 8:24 |
When there were no depths, I was brought forth, / When there were no fountains abounding with water. |
| Prov. 8:25 |
Before the mountains were settled, / Before the hills, I was brought forth; |
| Prov. 8:26 |
When He had not yet made the earth and the fields, / Nor the first dust of the world. |
| Prov. 8:27 |
When He established the heavens, I was there; / When He inscribed a circle upon the surface of the deep, |
| Prov. 8:28 |
When He made firm the skies above, / When the fountains of the deep became strong, |
| Prov. 8:29 |
When He set for the sea its boundary, / That the waters should not transgress His commandment, / When He marked out the foundations of the earth; |
| Prov. 8:30 |
Then I was by Him, [as a] master workman; / And I was daily [His] delight, / Rejoicing always before Him, |
| Prov. 8:31 |
Rejoicing in His habitable earth; / And my delight was in the sons of men. |
| Prov. 8:32 |
Now therefore, [my] sons, listen to me; / For blessed are they who keep my ways. |
| Prov. 8:33 |
Hear instruction, and be wise; / And do not neglect it. |
| Prov. 8:34 |
Blessed is the man who listens to me, / Watching daily at my doors, / Waiting at my doorposts. |
| Prov. 8:35 |
For whoever finds me finds life, / And will obtain favor from Jehovah. |
| Prov. 8:36 |
But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; / All who hate me love death. |