“To you, O people, I call out, and my voice calls to all mankind.

The one who is wise in heart is called discerning, and kind speech increases persuasiveness.

Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding a close relative,

The one who plans to do evil will be called a scheming person.

Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice?

calling out to those who are passing by her in the way, who go straight on their way.

Her children rise up and call her blessed, her husband also praises her:

However, because I called but you refused to listen, because I stretched out my hand but no one paid attention,

Wisdom calls out in the street, she shouts loudly in the plazas;

indeed, if you call out for discernment – raise your voice for understanding –

She has sent out her female servants; she calls out on the highest places of the city.

Then they will call to me, but I will not answer; they will diligently seek me, but they will not find me.

The woman called Folly is brash, she is naive and does not know anything.

at the head of the noisy streets she calls, in the entrances of the gates in the city she utters her words:

The lips of a fool enter into strife, and his mouth invites a flogging.

She is like a tree of life to those who obtain her, and everyone who grasps hold of her will be blessed.

All the relatives of a poor person hate him; how much more do his friends avoid him – he pursues them with words, but they do not respond.

The one who shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and will not be answered.

Surely I am more brutish than any other human being, and I do not have human understanding;