Proverbs 8

Wisdom Calls

¹Does not wisdom call,

²Atop the heights beside the road,[#Literally “At a head of the heights”]

³Beside gates, before towns,

⁴“To you, O people, I call,[#Literally “men”]

⁵Learn prudence, O simple ones;

⁶Listen! For noble things I will speak,

⁷My mouth will utter truth,

⁸All sayings of my mouth are in righteousness;

⁹All of them are straight to him who understands,

¹⁰Take my teaching and not silver;

¹¹For wisdom is better than jewels,

¹²I, wisdom, live with prudence,

¹³The fear of Yahweh is hatred of evil,

¹⁴Advice and sound judgment are mine;[#Literally “To/for me are advice and sound judgment”]

¹⁵By me kings reign,

¹⁶By me rulers rule,

¹⁷I love those who love me,[#Literally “her lovers”]

¹⁸Fortune and glory are with me,

¹⁹My fruit is better than gold, even refined gold,[#Literally “fine gold”]

²⁰In the way of righteousness I walk,

²¹in order to endow those who love me with wealth,

Wisdom at Creation

²²“Yahweh possessed me, the first of his ways,[#Or “gained,” or “acquired”]

²³From eternity, I was set up from the first,

²⁴When there were no depths, I was brought forth,

²⁵Before mountains had been shaped,

²⁶When he had not yet made earth and fields,

²⁷when he established the heavens, there I was,[#Literally “in his establishing”]

²⁸when he made skies from above,[#Literally “in his making”]

²⁹when he assigned his limits to the sea,[#Literally “in his assigning”]

³⁰I was beside him, a master workman,[#Literally “at the place of”]

³¹rejoicing in the world of his earth,

Benefits of Following Wisdom

³²“And now, children, listen to me;

³³Hear teaching and be wise;

³⁴Happy is the person who listens to me,

³⁵For he who finds me is he who finds life,[#Hebrew “those who find”]

³⁶But he who misses me injures himself.[#Or “soul,” or “inner self”]