22 (A)“The Lord (B)possessed[a] me at the beginning of his work,[b]
    the first of his acts (C)of old.
23 Ages ago I was (D)set up,
    at the first, (E)before the beginning of the earth.
24 When there were no (F)depths I was (G)brought forth,
    when there were no springs abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains (H)had been shaped,
    (I)before the hills, I was brought forth,
26 before he had made the earth with its fields,
    or the first of the dust of the world.
27 When he (J)established the heavens, I was there;
    when he drew (K)a circle on the face of the deep,
28 when he (L)made firm the skies above,
    when he established[c] the fountains of the deep,
29 when he (M)assigned to the sea its (N)limit,
    so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out (O)the foundations of the earth,
30     then (P)I was beside him, like a master workman,
and I was daily his[d] (Q)delight,
    rejoicing before him always,
31 (R)rejoicing in his (S)inhabited world
    and delighting in the children of man.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 8:22 Or fathered; Septuagint created
  2. Proverbs 8:22 Hebrew way
  3. Proverbs 8:28 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
  4. Proverbs 8:30 Or daily filled with

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