1 Does not wisdom call, And understanding lift up her voice?
2 On top of the heights beside the way, Where the paths meet, she takes her stand;
3 Beside 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,
21 To 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;
26 While 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,
28 When He made firm the skies above, When the springs of the deep became fixed,
