• The Blessing of Wisdom

  • 1 Does not wisdom call, And discernment give forth her voice?
  • 2 At the top of the heights upon the way, Where the pathways meet, she takes her stand;
  • 3 Beside the gates, at the opening to the city, At the entrance of the doors, she makes a shout:
  • 4 “To you, O men, I call, And my voice is to the sons of men.
  • 5 “O simple ones, understand prudence; And, O fools, understand a heart of wisdom.
  • 6 “Listen, for I will speak noble things; And the opening of my lips will reveal upright things.
  • 7 “For my mouth will utter truth; And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
  • 8 “All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; There is nothing twisted or crooked in them.
  • 9 “They are all straightforward to him who understands, And right to those who find knowledge.
  • 10 “Take my discipline and not silver, And knowledge rather than choicest fine gold.
  • 11 “For wisdom is better than pearls; And all desirable things cannot compare with her.
  • 12 “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And I find knowledge and discretion.
  • 13 “The fear of Yahweh is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the mouth of perverted words, I hate.
  • 14 “Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, might is mine.
  • 15 “By me kings reign, And rulers mark out righteousness.
  • 16 “By me princes rule, and nobles, All who judge rightly.
  • 17 “I love those who love me; And those who earnestly seek me will find me.
  • 18 “Riches and glory are with me, Enduring wealth and righteousness.
  • 19 “My fruit is better than fine gold, even pure gold, And my produce better than choice silver.
  • 20 “I walk in the path of righteousness, In the midst of the pathways of justice,
  • 21 To give those who love me an inheritance of wealth, That I may fill their treasuries.
  • 22 “Yahweh possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His deeds of old.
  • 23 “From everlasting I was installed, From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.
  • 24 “When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no springs heavy with water.
  • 25 “Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills I was brought forth;
  • 26 While He had not yet made the earth and the fields outside, Nor the first dust of the world.
  • 27 “When He established the heavens, I was there, When He marked out a circle on the face of the deep,
  • 28 When He made firm the skies above, When the springs of the deep became strong,
  • 29 When He set for the sea its boundary So that the water would not pass over His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth;
  • 30 Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; And I was a daily delight, Rejoicing always before Him,
  • 31 Rejoicing in the world, His earth, My delight is in the sons of men.
  • 32 “So now, O sons, listen to me, For blessed are they who keep my ways.
  • 33 “Hear discipline and be wise, And do not neglect it.
  • 34 “How blessed is the man who hears me, To watch daily at my doors, To keep watch at my doorposts.
  • 35 “For he who finds me finds life And obtains favor from Yahweh.
  • 36 “But he who sins against me does violence to his own soul; All those who hate me love death.”