Proverbs 8 (asv)

^8:1Doth not wisdom cry,

And understanding put forth her voice?

^8:2On the top of high places by the way,

Where the paths meet, she standeth;

^8:3Beside the gates, at the entry of the city,

At the coming in at the doors, she crieth aloud:

^8:4Unto you, O men, I call;

And my voice is to the sons of men.

^8:5O ye simple, understand prudence;

And, ye fools, be of an understanding heart.

^8:6Hear, for I will speak excellent things;

And the opening of my lips shall be right things.

^8:7For my mouth shall utter truth;

And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

^8:8All the words of my mouth are in righteousness;

There is nothing crooked or perverse in them.

^8:9They are all plain to him that understandeth,

And right to them that find knowledge.

^8:10Receive my instruction, and not silver;

And knowledge rather than choice gold.

^8:11For wisdom is better than rubies;

And all the things that may be desired are not to be compared unto it.

^8:12I wisdom have made prudence my dwelling,

And find out knowledge and discretion.

^8:13The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil:

Pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way,

And the perverse mouth, do I hate.

^8:14Counsel is mine, and sound knowledge:

I am understanding; I have might.

^8:15By me kings reign,

And princes decree justice.

^8:16By me princes rule,

And nobles, even all the judges of the earth.

^8:17I love them that love me;

And those that seek me diligently shall find me.

^8:18Riches and honor are with me;

Yea, durable wealth and righteousness.

^8:19My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold;

And my revenue than choice silver.

^8:20I walk in the way of righteousness,

In the midst of the paths of justice;

^8:21That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance,

And that I may fill their treasuries.

^8:22Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of his way,

Before his works of old.

^8:23I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning,

Before the earth was.

^8:24When there were no depths, I was brought forth,

When there were no fountains abounding with water.

^8:25Before the mountains were settled,

Before the hills was I brought forth;

^8:26While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields,

Nor the beginning of the dust of the world.

^8:27When he established the heavens, I was there:

When he set a circle upon the face of the deep,

^8:28When he made firm the skies above,

When the fountains of the deep became strong,

^8:29When he gave to the sea its bound,

That the waters should not transgress his commandment,

When he marked out the foundations of the earth;

^8:30Then I was by him, as a master workman;1

And I was daily his delight,

Rejoicing always before him,

^8:31Rejoicing in his habitable earth;

And my delight was with the sons of men.

^8:32Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me;

For blessed are they that keep my ways.

^8:33Hear instruction, and be wise,

And refuse it not.

^8:34Blessed is the man that heareth me,

Watching daily at my gates,

Waiting at the posts of my doors.

^8:35For whoso findeth me findeth life,

And shall obtain favor of Jehovah.

^8:36But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul:

All they that hate me love death.

1. Wisdom is a kind of Platonic form, residing in the Mind of God, providing a blueprint for creation. Ref: Phillip Cary, Phil and Religion in the West, Lecture 7.