The Excellence of Wisdom

1Doth not wysdome crie? doth not vnderstondinge put forth hir voyce?

2Stondeth she not in the hye places in the stretes & wayes?

3doth she not crie before the whole cite, & in the gates where men go out & in?

4It is you, o ye men (sayeth she) whom I call. Unto you (o ye childre of me) lift I vp my voyce.

5Take hede vnto knowlege o ye ignoraut, be wyse in herte o ye fooles.

6Geue eare, for I wil speake of greate matters, & open my lippes to tell thinges that be right.

7For my throte shal be talkynge of ye trueth, & my lippes abhorre vngodlynesse.

8All the wordes of my mouth are rightuous, there is no frowardnesse ner falsede therin.

9They are all playne to soch as wil vnderstode, & right to the that fynde knowlege.

10Receaue my doctryne therfore and not syluer, & knowlege more then fyne golde.

11For wysdome is more worth then precious stones, yee all the thinges that thou cast desyre, are not to be compared vnto it.

12I wysdome haue my dwellynge wt knowlege, and prudent councell is myne owne.

13With me is the feare of the LORDE, and ye eschuynge of euell. As for pryde, disdayne, an euell waye, & a mouth that speaketh wicked thiges, I vtterly abhorre the.

14I can geue councell, and be a gyde: I haue vnderstondinge, I haue strength.

15Thorow me, kynges reigne: thorow me, prices make iust lawes.

16Thorow me, lordes beare rule, and all iudges of ye earth execute iudgmet.

17I am louynge vnto those that loue me, and they that seke me early, shal fynde me.

18Riches & honoure are wt me, yee excellent goodes & rightuousnes.

19My frute is better the golde & precious stone, & myne encrease more worth then fyne syluer.

20I walke in ye waye of rightuousnes, & in the strete of iudgment.

21That I maye sende prosperite to those that loue me, & to encrease their treasure.

22The LORDE himself had me in possessio in the begynnynge of his wayes, or euer he begame his workes aforetyme.

23I haue bene ordened fro euerlastige, & fro ye beginnynge or euer the earth was made.

24When I was borne, there were nether depthes ner springes of water.

25Before the foundacions of ye mountaynes were layed, yee before all hilles was I borne.

26The earth and all that is vpon the earth was not yet made, no not the grounde it self.

27For when he made the heauens, I was present: wha he set the depthes in ordre:

28whan he hanged the cloudes aboue: whan he fastened the sprynges of the depe:

29Whan he shutt the see within certayne bowndes, that ye waters shulde not go ouer their marckes. When he layed the foundacions of the earth,

30I was with him, ordringe all thinges, delytinge daylie & reioysynge allwaye before him.

31As for the roude copase of his worlde, I make it ioyfull, for my delyte is to be amoge the children of men.

32Therfore harken vnto me (o ye children) for blessed are they that kepe my wayes.

33O geue eare vnto nurtoure, be wyse, and refuse it not.

34Blessed is ye man that heareth me, watchinge daylie at my gates, & geuynge attendaunce at the postes of my dores.

35For who so fyndeth me, fyndeth life, and shal optayne fauoure of the LORDE.

36But who so offendeth agaynst me, hurteth his owne soule. All they that hate me, are the louers of death.