Proverbs 8:22–36

²²“The ^lLord possessed me at the beginning of His way,

Before His works of old.

^23mI have been established from everlasting,

From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.

²⁴When there were no depths I was brought forth,

When there were no fountains abounding with water.

²⁵ⁿBefore the mountains were settled,

Before the hills, I was brought forth;

²⁶While as yet He had not made the earth or the ⁵fields,

Or the ⁶primal dust of the world.

²⁷When He prepared the heavens, I was there,

When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,

²⁸When He established the clouds above,

When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,

^29oWhen He assigned to the sea its limit,

So that the waters would not transgress His command,

When ^pHe marked out the foundations of the earth,

^30qThen I was beside Him as ⁷a master craftsman;

^rAnd I was daily His delight,

Rejoicing always before Him,

³¹Rejoicing in His inhabited world,

And ^smy delight was with the sons of men.

³²“Now therefore, listen to me, my children,

For ^tblessed are those who keep my ways.

³³Hear instruction and be wise,

And do not disdain it.

^34uBlessed is the man who listens to me,

Watching daily at my gates,

Waiting at the posts of my doors.

³⁵For whoever finds me finds life,

And ^vobtains favor from the Lord;

³⁶But he who sins against me ^wwrongs his own soul;

All those who hate me love death.”