Proverbs 8

Good News Translation

In Praise of Wisdom

8 ^(A)Listen! Wisdom is calling out.
    Reason is making herself heard.
²On the hilltops near the road
    and at the crossroads she stands.
³At the entrance to the city,
    beside the gates, she calls:
⁴“I appeal to all of you;
    I call to everyone on earth.
⁵Are you immature? Learn to be mature.
    Are you foolish? Learn to have sense.
⁶Listen to my excellent words;
    all I tell you is right.
⁷What I say is the truth;
    lies are hateful to me.
⁸Everything I say is true;
    nothing is false or misleading.
⁹To those with insight, it is all clear;
    to the well-informed, it is all plain.
¹⁰Choose my instruction instead of silver;
    choose knowledge rather than the finest gold.

¹¹^(B)“I am Wisdom, I am better than jewels;
    nothing you want can compare with me.
¹²I am Wisdom, and I have insight;
    I have knowledge and sound judgment.
¹³To honor the Lord is to hate evil;
    I hate pride and arrogance,
    evil ways and false words.
¹⁴I make plans and carry them out.
    I have understanding, and I am strong.
¹⁵I help kings to govern
    and rulers to make good laws.
¹⁶Every ruler on earth governs with my help,
    officials and nobles alike.
¹⁷I love those who love me;
    whoever looks for me can find me.
¹⁸I have riches and honor to give,
    prosperity and success.
¹⁹What you get from me is better than the finest gold,
    better than the purest silver.
²⁰I walk the way of righteousness;
    I follow the paths of justice,
²¹giving wealth to those who love me,
    filling their houses with treasures.

²²^(C)“The Lord created me first of all,
    the first of his works, long ago.
²³I was made in the very beginning,
    at the first, before the world began.
²⁴I was born before the oceans,
    when there were no springs of water.
²⁵I was born before the mountains,
    before the hills were set in place,
²⁶before God made the earth and its fields
    or even the first handful of soil.
²⁷^(D)I was there when he set the sky in place,
    when he stretched the horizon across the ocean,
²⁸when he placed the clouds in the sky,
    when he opened the springs of the ocean
²⁹and ordered the waters of the sea
    to rise no further than he said.
I was there when he laid the earth's foundations.
³⁰I was beside him like an architect,^[a]
    I was his daily source of joy,
    always happy in his presence—
³¹happy with the world
    and pleased with the human race.

³²^(E)“Now, young people, listen to me.
    Do as I say, and you will be happy.
³³Listen to what you are taught.
    Be wise; do not neglect it.
³⁴Those who listen to me will be happy—
    those who stay at my door every day,
    waiting at the entrance to my home.
³⁵Those who find me find life,
    and the Lord will be pleased with them.
³⁶Those who do not find me hurt themselves;
    anyone who hates me loves death.”