¹Does not wisdom call out?

And does not understanding raise its voice?

²On the most prominent position on the road,

At the crossroads, there it stands;

³At the side of the gates,

At the way into the city

– At the entrance doors –

There it cries out.

⁴“You men, to you I call out,

And to you sons of Adam, I direct my voice.

⁵You gullible ones, understand shrewdness,

And you fools, understand strength of character.

⁶Hear, for I will speak of noble things,

While opening my lips with upright matters.

⁷For my palate savours the truth,

But wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

⁸All the sayings of my mouth are in righteousness;

There is nothing crooked or perverse in them.

⁹They are all straightforward to him who understands,

And upright to those who find knowledge.

¹⁰Accept my correction, and not silver,

And knowledge rather than choice gold.

¹¹For wisdom is better than red corals,

And no material desires can be compared to it.

¹²I, wisdom, abide in shrewdness,

And I acquire the faculty of thoughtfulness.

¹³The fear of the Lord is to hate evil,

Pride, and arrogance and an evil way.

And I hate a mouth speaking subversive things.

¹⁴I have counsel and resourcefulness.

I am understanding.

I have valour.

¹⁵By me, kings reign,

And potentates legislate justice.

¹⁶By me princes rule, and leaders

– All those who administer justice.

¹⁷I love those who love me.

And those who seek me diligently

Will find me.

¹⁸Riches and honour accompany me

– Resplendent wealth and righteousness.

¹⁹My fruit is better than a gold nugget or a fine gold ingot,

And my produce is better than choice silver.

²⁰I walk in the way of righteousness

– Within the paths of justice,

²¹By bestowing wealth on those who love me,

As I fill their treasuries.

²²The Lord acquired me at the beginning of his way,

Before his works since then

²³– Before the age came about.

I was appointed in advance,

Before the things preceding the earth.

²⁴When there were no deep waters,

I was brought forth

– When there were no sources well endowed with water.

²⁵Before the mountains were settled in place,

Before the hills existed,

I was brought forth.

²⁶Before he had made the earth and the open spaces,

When the particles of the earth were the starting point,

²⁷When he prepared the heavens,

I was there.

And when he determined a sphere over the surface of the deep,

²⁸When he made the skies above firm,

When he gave strength to the fountains of the deep,

²⁹When he issued his statute to the sea

That the waters should not exceed his dictum,

When he decreed the foundations of the earth,

³⁰I was with him constantly,

And I was his delight day by day,

Rejoicing in his presence all the time,

³¹Rejoicing in the inhabitants of his earth,

And my delights were with the sons of Adam.

³²So now, you sons, hear me,

For happy are they who keep my ways.

³³Hear correction,

And become wise,

And do not reject it.

³⁴Happy is the man who hears me,

So that he watches at my doors daily,

Guarding at the posts of my doors,

³⁵For he who finds me has found life,

And he obtains favour from the Lord.

³⁶But he who sins against me,

Does violence to himself;

All who hate me love death.”