Proverbs 8:22–36

²²“Yahweh possessed me ^aat the beginning of His way,

Before His deeds ¹of old.

²³“From everlasting I was ^1ainstalled,

From the beginning, ^bfrom the earliest times of the earth.

²⁴“When there were no ^adepths I was ¹brought forth,

When there were no springs heavy with water.

²⁵“^aBefore the mountains were settled,

Before the hills I was ¹brought forth;

²⁶While He had not yet made the earth and the fields outside,

Nor the first dust of the world.

²⁷“When He ^aestablished the heavens, I was there,

When ^bHe marked out a circle on the face of the deep,

²⁸When He made firm the skies above,

When the springs of the deep became strong,

²⁹When ^aHe set for the sea its boundary

So that the water would not pass over His ¹command,

When He marked out ^bthe foundations of the earth;

³⁰Then ^aI was beside Him, as a master workman;

And I was a daily delight,

¹Rejoicing always before Him,

³¹¹Rejoicing in the world, His earth,

^aMy delight is in the sons of men.

³²“So now, O sons, ^alisten to me,

For ^bblessed are they who keep my ways.

³³“^aHear discipline and be wise,

And do not neglect it.

³⁴“^aHow blessed is the man who hears me,

To watch daily at my doors,

To keep watch at my doorposts.

³⁵“For ^ahe who finds me finds life

And ^bobtains favor from Yahweh.

³⁶“But he who ¹sins against me ^adoes violence to his own soul;

All those who ^bhate me ^clove death.”