Proverbs 8–9

Chapter 8

The Commendation of Wisdom

¹Does not ^awisdom call,

And understanding ¹lift up her voice?

²On top of ^athe heights beside the way,

Where the paths meet, she takes her stand;

³Beside the ^agates, at the opening to the city,

At the entrance of the doors, she cries out:

⁴“To you, O men, I call,

And my voice is to the sons of men.

⁵“O ^1anaive ones, understand prudence;

And, O ^bfools, understand ²wisdom.

⁶“Listen, for I will speak ^anoble things;

And the opening of my lips will reveal ^bright things.

⁷“For my ^amouth will utter truth;

And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

⁸“All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness;

There is nothing ^acrooked or perverted in them.

⁹“They are all ^astraightforward to him who understands,

And right to those who ^bfind knowledge.

¹⁰“Take my ^ainstruction and not silver,

And knowledge rather than choicest gold.

¹¹“For wisdom is ^abetter than ¹jewels;

And ^ball desirable things cannot compare with her.

¹²“I, wisdom, ^adwell with prudence,

And I find ^bknowledge and discretion.

¹³“The ^afear of the Lord is to hate evil;

^bPride and arrogance and ^cthe evil way

And the ^dperverted mouth, I hate.

¹⁴“^aCounsel is mine and ^bsound wisdom;

I am understanding, ^cpower is mine.

¹⁵“By me ^akings reign,

And rulers decree justice.

¹⁶“By me princes rule, and nobles,

All who judge rightly.

¹⁷“I ^alove those who love me;

And ^bthose who diligently seek me will find me.

¹⁸“^aRiches and honor are with me,

Enduring ^bwealth and righteousness.

¹⁹“My fruit is ^abetter than gold, even pure gold,

And my yield better than ^bchoicest silver.

²⁰“I walk in the way of righteousness,

In the midst of the paths of justice,

²¹To endow those who love me with wealth,

That I may ^afill their treasuries.

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

Before His works ¹of old.

²³“From everlasting I was ^1aestablished,

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 abounding 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 ¹fields,

Nor the first dust of the world.

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

When ^bHe inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,

²⁸When He made firm the skies above,

When the springs of the deep became ¹fixed,

²⁹When ^aHe set for the sea its boundary

So that the water would not transgress His ¹command,

When He marked out ^bthe foundations of the earth;

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

And I was daily His delight,

¹Rejoicing always before Him,

³¹¹Rejoicing in the world, His earth,

And having ^amy delight in the sons of men.

³²“Now therefore, O sons, ^alisten to me,

For ^bblessed are they who keep my ways.

³³“^aHeed instruction and be wise,

And do not neglect it.

³⁴“^aBlessed is the man who listens to me,

Watching daily at my gates,

Waiting at my doorposts.

³⁵“For ^ahe who finds me finds life

And ^bobtains favor from the Lord.

³⁶“But he who ¹sins against me ^ainjures himself;

All those who ^bhate me ^clove death.”

Chapter 9

Wisdom’s Invitation

¹Wisdom has ^abuilt her house,

She has hewn out her seven pillars;

²She has ^1aprepared her food, she has ^bmixed her wine;

She has also ^cset her table;

³She has ^asent out her maidens, she ^bcalls

From the ^ctops of the heights of the city:

⁴“^aWhoever is ¹naive, let him turn in here!”

To him who ^blacks ²understanding she says,

⁵“Come, ^aeat of my food

And drink of the wine I have mixed.

⁶“¹Forsake your folly and ^alive,

And ^bproceed in the way of understanding.”

⁷He who ^acorrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself,

And he who reproves a wicked man gets ¹insults for himself.

^8aDo not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you,

^bReprove a wise man and he will love you.

⁹Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser,

Teach a righteous man and he will ^aincrease his learning.

¹⁰The ^afear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,

And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

¹¹For ^aby me your days will be multiplied,

And years of life will be added to you.

¹²If you are wise, you are wise ^afor yourself,

And if you ^bscoff, you alone will bear it.

¹³The ¹woman of folly is ^aboisterous,

She is ²naive and ^bknows nothing.

¹⁴She sits at the doorway of her house,

On a seat by ^athe high places of the city,

¹⁵Calling to those who pass by,

Who are making their paths straight:

¹⁶“^aWhoever is ¹naive, let him turn in here,”

And to him who lacks ²understanding she says,

¹⁷“Stolen water is sweet;

And ^abread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

¹⁸But he does not know that the ¹dead are there,

That her guests are in the ^adepths of Sheol.