Proverbs 8:22-36 ▼

22 “Yahweh possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His deeds of old.

23 From everlasting I was installed, From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.

24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no springs heavy with water.

25 Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills I was brought forth;

26 While He had not yet made the earth and the fields outside, Nor the first dust of the world.

27 When He established the heavens, I was there, When He marked out a circle on the face of the deep,

28 When He made firm the skies above, When the springs of the deep became strong,

29 When He set for the sea its boundary So that the water would not pass over His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth;

30 Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; And I was a daily delight, Rejoicing always before Him,

31 Rejoicing in the world, His earth, My delight is in the sons of men.

32 “So now, O sons, listen to me, For blessed are they who keep my ways.

33 Hear discipline and be wise, And do not neglect it.

34 How blessed is the man who hears me, To watch daily at my doors, To keep watch at my doorposts.

35 For he who finds me finds life And obtains favor from Yahweh.

36 But he who sins against me does violence to his own soul; All those who hate me love death.”