| 1 | Doth not wisdom call? And understanding give forth her voice? |
| 2 | At the head of high places by the way, Between the paths she hath stood, |
| 3 | At the side of the gates, at the mouth of the city, The entrance of the openings, she crieth aloud, |
| 4 | 'Unto you, O men, I call, And my voice [is] unto the sons of men. |
| 5 | Understand, ye simple ones, prudence, And ye fools, understand the heart, |
| 6 | Hearken, for noble things I speak, And the opening of my lips [is] uprightness. |
| 7 | For truth doth my mouth utter, And an abomination to my lips [is] wickedness. |
| 8 | In righteousness [are] all the sayings of my mouth, Nothing in them is froward and perverse. |
| 9 | All of them [are] plain to the intelligent, And upright to those finding knowledge. |
| 10 | Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold. |
| 11 | For better [is] wisdom than rubies, Yea, all delights are not comparable with it. |
| 12 | I, wisdom, have dwelt with prudence, And a knowledge of devices I find out. |
| 13 | The fear of Jehovah [is] to hate evil; Pride, and arrogance, and an evil way, And a froward mouth, I have hated. |
| 14 | Mine [is] counsel and substance, I [am] understanding, I have might. |
| 15 | By me kings reign, and princes decree righteousness, |
| 16 | By me do chiefs rule, and nobles, All judges of the earth. |
| 17 | I love those loving me, And those seeking me earnestly do find me. |
| 18 | Wealth and honour [are] with me, Lasting substance and righteousness. |
| 19 | Better [is] my fruit than gold, even fine gold, And mine increase than choice silver. |
| 20 | In a path of righteousness I cause to walk, In midst of paths of judgment, |
| 21 | To cause my lovers to inherit substance, Yea, their treasures I fill. |
| 22 | Jehovah possessed me—the beginning of His way, Before His works since then. |
| 23 | From the age I was anointed, from the first, From former states of the earth. |
| 24 | In there being no depths, I was brought forth, In there being no fountains heavy [with] waters, |
| 25 | Before mountains were sunk, Before heights, I was brought forth. |
| 26 | While He had not made the earth, and out-places, And the top of the dusts of the world. |
| 27 | In His preparing the heavens I [am] there, In His decreeing a circle on the face of the deep, |
| 28 | In His strengthening clouds above, In His making strong fountains of the deep, |
| 29 | In His setting for the sea its limit, And the waters transgress not His command, In His decreeing the foundations of earth, |
| 30 | Then I am near Him, a workman, And I am a delight—day by day. Rejoicing before Him at all times, |
| 31 | Rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth, And my delights [are] with the sons of men. |
| 32 | And now, ye sons, hearken to me, Yea, happy are they who keep my ways. |
| 33 | Hear instruction, and be wise, and slight not. |
| 34 | O the happiness of the man hearkening to me, To watch at my doors day by day, To watch at the door-posts of my entrance. |
| 35 | For whoso is finding me, hath found life, And bringeth out good-will from Jehovah. |
| 36 | And whoso is missing me, is wronging his soul, All hating me have loved death! |