The Excellence of Wisdom

1Does not wisdom call out, and prudence bestow her voice?

2At the summits and the tops of exalted places, standing above the ways, in the midst of the paths,

3beside the gates of the city, at the very doors, she speaks, saying:

4“O men, to you I call out, and my voice is to the sons of men.

5O little ones, understand discernment. And you who are unwise, turn your souls.

6Listen, for I will speak about great things, and my lips will be opened, so as to foretell what is right.

7My throat shall practice truth, and my lips shall detest the impious.

8All my words are just. There is no depravity in them, and no perversity.

9They are upright to those who understand, and equitable to those who discover knowledge.

10Accept my discipline, and not money. Choose the doctrine that is greater than gold.

11For wisdom is better than all that is most precious, and everything that is desirable cannot compare to her.

12I, wisdom, dwell in counsel, and I am inside learned thoughts.

13The fear of the Lord hates evil. I detest arrogance, and pride, and every wicked way, and a mouth with a double tongue.

14Counsel is mine, and equity. Prudence is mine. Strength is mine.

15Through me, kings reign and legislators decree just conditions.

16Through me, princes rule and the powerful decree justice.

17I love those who love me. And those who stand watch for me until morning shall discover me.

18With me, are wealth and glory, superb riches and justice.

19For my fruit is better than gold and precious stones, and my progeny better than choice silver.

20I walk in the way of justice, in the midst of the paths of judgment,

21so that I may enrich those who love me, and thus complete their treasures.

22The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before he made anything, from the beginning.

23I was ordained from eternity, and out of antiquity, before the earth was formed.

24The abyss did not yet exist, and I was already conceived; neither had the fountains of waters yet erupted.

25The mountains, with their great mass, had not yet been established. Before the hills, I was brought forth.

26Still he had not made the earth, and the rivers, and the poles of the globe of the earth.

27I was already present: when he prepared the heavens; when, with a certain law and a circuit, he fortified the abyss;

28when he made firm the sky above, and set free the fountains of waters;

29when he encompassed the sea within its limits, and laid down a law for the waters, lest they transgress their limits; when he weighed the foundations of the earth.

30I was with him in composing all things. And I was delighted, throughout every day, by playing in his sight at all times,

31playing in globe of the earth. And my delight was to be with the sons of men.

32Therefore, sons, hear me now. Blessed are those who preserve my ways.

33Listen to discipline, and become wise, and do not be willing to cast it aside.

34Blessed is the man who listens to me, and who stands watch at my gates everyday, and who observes at the posts of my doors.

35He who finds me, finds life, and he will draw salvation from the Lord.

36But he who sins against me will wound his own soul. All who hate me love death.”