1 Does not wisdom call out, and prudence bestow her voice 2 At the summits and the tops of exalted places, standing above the ways, in the midst of the paths 3 beside 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 5 O little ones, understand discernment. And you who are unwise, turn your souls 6 Listen, for I will speak about great things, and my lips will be opened, so as to foretell what is right 7 My throat shall practice truth, and my lips shall detest the impious 8 All my words are just. There is no depravity in them, and no perversity 9 They are upright to those who understand, and equitable to those who discover knowledge 10 Accept my discipline, and not money. Choose the doctrine that is greater than gold 11 For wisdom is better than all that is most precious, and everything that is desirable cannot compare to her 12 I, wisdom, dwell in counsel, and I am inside learned thoughts 13 The fear of the Lord hates evil. I detest arrogance, and pride, and every wicked way, and a mouth with a double tongue 14 Counsel is mine, and equity. Prudence is mine. Strength is mine 15 Through me, kings reign and legislators decree just conditions 16 Through me, princes rule and the powerful decree justice 17 I love those who love me. And those who stand watch for me until morning shall discover me 18 With me, are wealth and glory, superb riches and justice 19 For my fruit is better than gold and precious stones, and my progeny better than choice silver 20 I walk in the way of justice, in the midst of the paths of judgment 21 so that I may enrich those who love me, and thus complete their treasures 22 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before he made anything, from the beginning 23 I was ordained from eternity, and out of antiquity, before the earth was formed 24 The abyss did not yet exist, and I was already conceived; neither had the fountains of waters yet erupted 25 The mountains, with their great mass, had not yet been established. Before the hills, I was brought forth 26 Still he had not made the earth, and the rivers, and the poles of the globe of the earth 27 I was already present: when he prepared the heavens; when, with a certain law and a circuit, he fortified the abyss 28 when he made firm the sky above, and set free the fountains of waters 29 when 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 30 I was with him in composing all things. And I was delighted, throughout every day, by playing in his sight at all times 31 playing in globe of the earth. And my delight was to be with the sons of men 32 Therefore, sons, hear me now. Blessed are those who preserve my ways 33 Listen to discipline, and become wise, and do not be willing to cast it aside 34 Blessed is the man who listens to me, and who stands watch at my gates everyday, and who observes at the posts of my doors 35 He who finds me, finds life, and he will draw salvation from the Lord 36 But he who sins against me will wound his own soul. All who hate me love death.
