Listen to Wisdom

8 Wisdom calls to you like someone shouting;

understanding raises her voice.

2  On the hilltops along the road

and at the crossroads, she stands calling.

3  Beside 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.

5  You who are uneducated, seek wisdom.

You who are foolish, get understanding.

6  Listen, because I have important things to say,

and what I tell you is right.

7  What I say is true,

I refuse to speak evil.

8  Everything I say is honest;

nothing I say is crooked or false.

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

and those with knowledge know my words are right.

10  Choose my teachings instead of silver,

and knowledge rather than the finest gold.

11  Wisdom 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.

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

I hate pride and bragging,

evil ways and lies.

14  I have good sense and advice,

and I have understanding and power.

15  I help kings to govern

and rulers to make fair laws.

16  Princes use me to lead,

and so do all important people who judge fairly.

17  I love those who love me,

and those who seek me find me.

18  Riches and honor are mine to give.

So are wealth and lasting success.

19  What I give is better than the finest gold,

better than the purest silver.

20  I do what is right

and follow the path of justice.

21  I 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.

23  I was created in the very beginning,

even before the world began.

24  I was born before there were oceans,

or springs overflowing with water,

25  before the hills were there,

before the mountains were put in place.

26  God had not made the earth or fields,

not even the first dust of the earth.

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

when he stretched the horizon over the oceans,

28  when he made the clouds above

and put the deep underground springs in place.

29  I 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.

30  I was like a child by his side.

I was delighted every day,

enjoying his presence all the time,

31  enjoying the whole world,

and delighted with all its people.

32  “Now, my children, listen to me,

because those who follow my ways are happy.

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

do not ignore it.

34  Happy are those who listen to me,

watching at my door every day,

waiting at my open doorway.

35  Those who find me find life,

and the Lord will be pleased with them.

36  Those who do not find me hurt themselves.

Those who hate me love death.”