“They are all straightforward to him who understands,
And right to those who find knowledge.

“The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.

“Take my instruction and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choicest gold.

“For wisdom is better than jewels;
And all desirable things cannot compare with her.

“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
And I find knowledge and discretion.

“By me princes rule, and nobles,
All who judge rightly.

“Counsel is mine and sound wisdom;
I am understanding, power is mine.

“By me kings reign,
And rulers decree justice.

“Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring wealth and righteousness.

“I walk in the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,

“My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold,
And my yield better than choicest silver.

“From everlasting I was established,
From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.

“When He established the heavens, I was there,
When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,

“When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no springs abounding with water.

“Listen, for I will speak noble things;
And the opening of my lips will reveal right things.

“All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness;
There is nothing crooked or perverted in them.

To endow those who love me with wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries.

“O naive ones, understand prudence;
And, O fools, understand wisdom.

“For my mouth will utter truth;
And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

On top of the heights beside the way,
Where the paths meet, she takes her stand;

Then I was beside Him, as a master workman;
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,

While He had not yet made the earth and the fields,
Nor the first dust of the world.

Beside the gates, at the opening to the city,
At the entrance of the doors, she cries out:

“Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills I was brought forth;

“To you, O men, I call,
And my voice is to the sons of men.

When 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;

When He made firm the skies above,
When the springs of the deep became fixed,

Rejoicing in the world, His earth,
And having my delight in the sons of men.

“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverted mouth, I hate.

Does not wisdom call,
And understanding lift up her voice?

“Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at my doorposts.

“I love those who love me;
And those who diligently seek me will find me.

“Now therefore, O sons, listen to me,
For blessed are they who keep my ways.

“But he who sins against me injures himself;
All those who hate me love death.”

“For he who finds me finds life
And obtains favor from the Lord.

“Heed instruction and be wise,
And do not neglect it.