⁴ I cry out to you, people;
    my voice goes out to all of humanity.

²² The Lord created me at the beginning of his way,
    before his deeds long in the past.
²³ I was formed in ancient times,
    at the beginning, before the earth was.
²⁴ When there were no watery depths, I was brought forth,
    when there were no springs flowing with water.
²⁵ Before the mountains were settled,
    before the hills, I was brought forth;
²⁶     before God^[a] made the earth and the fields
    or the first of the dry land.
²⁷ I was there when he established the heavens,
    when he marked out the horizon on the deep sea,
²⁸     when he thickened the clouds above,
    when he secured the fountains of the deep,
²⁹     when he set a limit for the sea,
        so the water couldn’t go beyond his command,
    when he marked out the earth’s foundations.
³⁰ I was beside him as a master of crafts.^[b]
    I was having fun,
    smiling before him all the time,
³¹     frolicking with his inhabited earth
    and delighting in the human race.