8:1 Does not wisdom call out?
Does not understanding raise her voice?
8:2 At the top
at the intersection
8:3 beside the gates opening into
at the entrance of the doorways she cries out:
8:4 “To you, O people,
and my voice calls
8:5 You who are naive, discern
And you fools, understand discernment!
8:6 Listen, for I will speak excellent things,
and my lips will utter
8:7 For my mouth
and my lips
8:8 All the words of my mouth are righteous;
there is nothing in them twisted
8:9 All of them are clear
and upright to those who find knowledge.
8:10 Receive my instruction
and knowledge rather than choice gold.
8:11 For wisdom is better than rubies,
and desirable things cannot be compared
8:12 “I, wisdom, live with prudence,
and I find
8:13 The fear of the Lord is to hate
I hate arrogant pride
and perverse utterances.
8:14 Counsel and sound wisdom belong to me;
I possess understanding and might.
8:15 Kings reign by means of me,
and potentates
8:16 by me princes rule,
as well as nobles and
8:17 I love
and those who seek me find me.
8:18 Riches and honor are with me,
long-lasting wealth and righteousness.
8:19 My fruit is better than the purest gold,
and what I produce
8:20 I walk in the path of righteousness,
in the pathway of justice,
8:21 that I may cause
and that I may fill
8:22 The Lord created
before his deeds of long ago.
8:23 From eternity I was appointed,
from the beginning, from before the world existed.
8:24 When there were no deep oceans
when there were no springs overflowing
8:25 before the mountains were set in place –
before the hills – I was born,
8:26 before he made the earth and its fields,
or the beginning
8:27 When he established the heavens, I was there;
when he marked out the horizon
8:28 when he established the clouds above,
when the fountains of the deep grew strong,
8:29 when he gave the sea his decree
that the waters should not pass over his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
8:30 then I was
and I was his delight
rejoicing before him at all times,
8:31 rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth,
and delighting
8:32 “So now, children,
blessed are those who keep my ways.
8:33 Listen to my instruction
and do not neglect it.
8:34 Blessed is the one
watching
waiting
8:35 For the one who finds me finds
and receives
8:36 But the one who does not find me
all who hate me
9:1 Wisdom has built her house;
she has carved out its seven pillars.
9:2 She has prepared her meat,
she also has arranged her table.
9:3 She has sent out her female servants;
she calls out on the highest places
9:4 “Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”
she says
9:5 “Come, eat
and drink some of the wine I have mixed.
9:6 Abandon your foolish ways
and proceed
9:7 Whoever corrects
whoever reproves a wicked person receives
9:8 Do not reprove
reprove a wise person and he will love you.
9:9 Give instruction
teach
9:10 The beginning
and acknowledging
9:11 For because
and years will be added
9:12 If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage,
but if you are a mocker,
9:13 The woman called Folly
she is naive
9:14 So she sits at the door of her house,
on a seat at the highest point of the city,
9:15 calling out
who go straight
9:16 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here,”
she says to those who lack understanding.
9:17 “Stolen waters
and food obtained in secret
9:18 But they do not realize
that her guests are in the depths of the grave.