Proverbs 8

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Does not wisdom call out, and prudence bestow her voice?	1 Does not Wisdom call, and Understanding raise her voice?
2 At the summits and the tops of exalted places, standing above the ways, in the midst of the paths,	2 On the top of the heights along the road, at the crossroads she takes her stand;
3 beside the gates of the city, at the very doors, she speaks, saying:	3 By the gates at the approaches of the city, in the entryways she cries aloud:
4 “O men, to you I call out, and my voice is to the sons of men.	4 "To you, O men, I call; my appeal is to the children of men.
5 O little ones, understand discernment. And you who are unwise, turn your souls.	5 You simple ones, gain resource, you fools, gain sense.
6 Listen, for I will speak about great things, and my lips will be opened, so as to foretell what is right.	6 "Give heed! for noble things I speak; honesty opens my lips.
7 My throat shall practice truth, and my lips shall detest the impious.	7 Yes, the truth my mouth recounts, but the wickedness my lips abhor.
8 All my words are just. There is no depravity in them, and no perversity.	8 Sincere are all the words of my mouth, no one of them is wily or crooked;
9 They are upright to those who understand, and equitable to those who discover knowledge.	9 All of them are plain to the man of intelligence, and right to those who attain knowledge.
10 Accept my discipline, and not money. Choose the doctrine that is greater than gold.	10 Receive my instruction in preference to silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold.
11 For wisdom is better than all that is most precious, and everything that is desirable cannot compare to her.	11 (For Wisdom is better than corals, and no choice possessions can compare with her.)
12 I, wisdom, dwell in counsel, and I am inside learned thoughts.	12 "I, Wisdom, dwell with experience, and judicious knowledge I attain.
13 The fear of the Lord hates evil. I detest arrogance, and pride, and every wicked way, and a mouth with a double tongue.	13 (The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;) Pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth I hate.
14 Counsel is mine, and equity. Prudence is mine. Strength is mine.	14 Mine are counsel and advice; Mine is strength; I am understanding.
15 Through me, kings reign and legislators decree just conditions.	15 By me kings reign, and lawgivers establish justice;
16 Through me, princes rule and the powerful decree justice.	16 By me princes govern, and nobles; all the rulers of earth.
17 I love those who love me. And those who stand watch for me until morning shall discover me.	17 "Those who love me I also love, and those who seek me find me.
18 With me, are wealth and glory, superb riches and justice.	18 With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity.
19 For my fruit is better than gold and precious stones, and my progeny better than choice silver.	19 My fruit is better than gold, yes, than pure gold, and my revenue than choice silver.
20 I walk in the way of justice, in the midst of the paths of judgment,	20 On the way of duty I walk, along the paths of justice,
21 so that I may enrich those who love me, and thus complete their treasures.	21 Granting wealth to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.
22 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before he made anything, from the beginning.	22 "The LORD begot me, the first-born of his ways, the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago;
23 I was ordained from eternity, and out of antiquity, before the earth was formed.	23 From of old I was poured forth, at the first, before the earth.
24 The abyss did not yet exist, and I was already conceived; neither had the fountains of waters yet erupted.	24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no fountains or springs of water;
25 The mountains, with their great mass, had not yet been established. Before the hills, I was brought forth.	25 Before the mountains were settled into place, before the hills, I was brought forth;
26 Still he had not made the earth, and the rivers, and the poles of the globe of the earth.	26 While as yet the earth and the fields were not made, nor the first clods of the world.
27 I was already present: when he prepared the heavens; when, with a certain law and a circuit, he fortified the abyss;	27 "When he established the heavens I was there, when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep;
28 when he made firm the sky above, and set free the fountains of waters;	28 When he made firm the skies above, when he fixed fast the foundations of the earth;
29 when he encompassed the sea within its limits, and laid down a law for the waters, lest they transgress their limits; when he weighed the foundations of the earth.	29 When he set for the sea its limit, so that the waters should not transgress his command;
30 I was with him in composing all things. And I was delighted, throughout every day, by playing in his sight at all times,	30 Then was I beside him as his craftsman, and I was his delight day by day, Playing before him all the while,
31 playing in globe of the earth. And my delight was to be with the sons of men.	31 playing on the surface of his earth; and I found delight in the sons of men.
32 Therefore, sons, hear me now. Blessed are those who preserve my ways.	32 "So now, O children, listen to me;
33 Listen to discipline, and become wise, and do not be willing to cast it aside.	33 instruction and wisdom do not reject! Happy the man who obeys me, and happy those who keep my ways,
34 Blessed is the man who listens to me, and who stands watch at my gates everyday, and who observes at the posts of my doors.	34 Happy the man watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts;
35 He who finds me, finds life, and he will draw salvation from the Lord.	35 For he who finds me finds life, and wins favor from the LORD;
36 But he who sins against me will wound his own soul. All who hate me love death.”	36 But he who misses me harms himself; all who hate me love death."