1Does not Wisdom call,

and Understanding raise her voice?a

2On the top of the heights along the road,

at the crossroads she takes her stand;

3By the gates at the approaches of the city,

in the entryways she cries aloud:

4“To you, O people, I call;

my appeal is to you mortals.

5You naive ones, gain prudence,

you fools,* gain sense.

6Listen! for noble things I speak;

my lips proclaim honest words.

7* Indeed, my mouth utters truth,

and my lips abhor wickedness.

8All the words of my mouth are sincere,

none of them wily or crooked;

9All of them are straightforward to the intelligent,

and right to those who attain knowledge.

10Take my instruction instead of silver,

and knowledge rather than choice gold.

11[For Wisdom is better than corals,

and no treasures can compare with her.b]

12I, Wisdom, dwell with prudence,

and useful knowledge I have.

13[The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil;]

Pride, arrogance, the evil way,

and the perverse mouth I hate.c

14Mine are counsel and advice;

Mine is strength; I am understanding.*

15By me kings reign,

and rulers enact justice;

16By me princes govern,

and nobles, all the judges of the earth.

17Those who love me I also love,

and those who seek me find me.

18With me are riches and honor,d

wealth that endures, and righteousness.

19My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold,

and my yield than choice silver.e

20On the way of righteousness I walk,

along the paths of justice,

21Granting wealth to those who love me,

and filling their treasuries.

22* “The Lord begot me, the beginning of his works,

the forerunner of his deeds of long ago;f

23From of old I was formed,*

at the first, before the earth.g

24* When there were no deeps I was brought forth,

when there were no fountains or springs of water;

25Before the mountains were settled into place,

before the hills, I was brought forth;

26When the earth and the fields were not yet made,

nor the first clods of the world.

27When he established the heavens, there was I,h

when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep;

28When he made firm the skies above,

when he fixed fast the springs of the deep;

29When he set for the sea its limit,

so that the waters should not transgress his command;

When he fixed the foundations of earth,

30then was I beside him as artisan;* i

I was his delight day by day,

playing before him all the while,

31Playing over the whole of his earth,

having my delight with human beings.

32* Now, children, listen to me;

happy are they who keep my ways.

33Listen to instruction and grow wise,

do not reject it!

34Happy the one who listens to me,

attending daily at my gates,

keeping watch at my doorposts;

35For whoever finds me finds life,j

and wins favor from the Lord;

36But those who pass me by do violence to themselves;

all who hate me love death.”