When I was a son with my father,
tender and precious to my mother,

I am on the verge of complete ruin
before the entire community.”

I was formed before ancient times,
from the beginning, before the earth began.

I was born
when there were no watery depths
and no springs filled with water.

I was delivered
before the mountains and hills were established,

I was there when He established the heavens,
when He laid out the horizon on the surface of the ocean,

I was a skilled craftsman beside Him.
I was His delight every day,
always rejoicing before Him.

I was rejoicing in His inhabited world,
delighting in the human race.

Thistles had come up everywhere,
weeds covered the ground,
and the stone wall was ruined.

so is the man who deceives his neighbor
and says, “I was only joking!”