Proverbs 8:1–36

Listen to Wisdom

8Wisdom calls to you like someone shouting;

understanding raises her voice.

²On the hilltops along the road

and at the crossroads, she stands calling.

³Beside the city gates,

at the entrances into the city, she calls out:

⁴“Listen, everyone, I’m calling out to you;

I am shouting to all people.

⁵You who are uneducated, seek wisdom.

You who are foolish, get understanding.

⁶Listen, because I have important things to say,

and what I tell you is right.

⁷What I say is true,

I refuse to speak evil.

⁸Everything I say is honest;

nothing I say is crooked or false.

⁹People with good sense know what I say is true;

and those with knowledge know my words are right.

¹⁰Choose my teachings instead of silver,

and knowledge rather than the finest gold.

¹¹Wisdom is more precious than rubies.

Nothing you could want is equal to it.

¹²“I am wisdom, and I have good judgment.

I also have knowledge and good sense.

¹³If you respect the Lord, you will also hate evil.

I hate pride and bragging,

evil ways and lies.

¹⁴I have good sense and advice,

and I have understanding and power.

¹⁵I help kings to govern

and rulers to make fair laws.

¹⁶Princes use me to lead,

and so do all important people who judge fairly.

¹⁷I love those who love me,

and those who seek me find me.

¹⁸Riches and honor are mine to give.

So are wealth and lasting success.

¹⁹What I give is better than the finest gold,

better than the purest silver.

²⁰I do what is right

and follow the path of justice.

²¹I give wealth to those who love me,

filling their houses with treasures.

²²“I, wisdom, was with the Lord when he began his work,

long before he made anything else.

²³I was created in the very beginning,

even before the world began.

²⁴I was born before there were oceans,

or springs overflowing with water,

²⁵before the hills were there,

before the mountains were put in place.

²⁶God had not made the earth or fields,

not even the first dust of the earth.

²⁷I was there when God put the skies in place,

when he stretched the horizon over the oceans,

²⁸when he made the clouds above

and put the deep underground springs in place.

²⁹I was there when he ordered the sea

not to go beyond the borders he had set.

I was there when he laid the earth’s foundation.

³⁰I was like a child by his side.

I was delighted every day,

enjoying his presence all the time,

³¹enjoying the whole world,

and delighted with all its people.

³²“Now, my children, listen to me,

because those who follow my ways are happy.

³³Listen to my teaching, and you will be wise;

do not ignore it.

³⁴Happy are those who listen to me,

watching at my door every day,

waiting at my open doorway.

³⁵Those who find me find life,

and the Lord will be pleased with them.

³⁶Those who do not find me hurt themselves.

Those who hate me love death.”