¹² “I, wisdom, ^(O)dwell with prudence,
And I find ^(P)knowledge and discretion.
¹³ The ^(Q)fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
^(R)Pride, arrogance, ^(S)the evil way,
And the ^(T)perverted mouth, I hate.
^14 (U)Advice is mine and ^(V)sound wisdom;
I am understanding, ^(W)power is mine.
¹⁵ By me ^(X)kings reign,
And rulers decree justice.
¹⁶ By me princes rule, and nobles,
All who judge rightly.
¹⁷ I ^(Y)love those who love me;
And ^(Z)those who diligently seek me will find me.
^18 (AA)Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring ^(AB)wealth and righteousness.
¹⁹ My fruit is ^(AC)better than gold, even pure gold;
And my yield better than ^(AD)choice silver.
²⁰ I walk in the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
²¹ To endow those who love me with wealth,
That I may ^(AE)fill their treasuries.

²² “The Lord ^[e]created me ^(AF)at the beginning of His way,
Before His works ^[f]of old.
²³ From eternity I was ^[g](AG)established,
From the beginning, ^(AH)from the earliest times of the earth.
²⁴ When there were no ^(AI)ocean depths, I was born,
When there were no springs abounding with water.
^25 (AJ)Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was born;
²⁶ While He had not yet made the earth and the ^[h]fields,
Nor the first dust of the world.
²⁷ When He ^(AK)established the heavens, I was there;
When ^(AL)He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,
²⁸ When He made firm the skies above,
When the springs of the deep became ^[i]fixed,
²⁹ When ^(AM)He set a boundary for the sea
So that the water would not violate His ^[j]command,
When He marked out ^(AN)the foundations of the earth;
³⁰ Then ^(AO)I was beside Him, as a master workman;
And I was His delight daily,
^[k]Rejoicing always before Him,
^31 [l]Rejoicing in the world, His earth,
And having ^(AP)my delight in the sons of mankind.

³² “Now then, sons, ^(AQ)listen to me,
For ^(AR)blessed are those who keep my ways.
^33 (AS)Listen to instruction and be wise,
And do not neglect it.
^34 (AT)Blessed is the person who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at my doorposts.
³⁵ For ^(AU)one who finds me finds life,
And ^(AV)obtains favor from the Lord.
³⁶ But one who ^[m]sins against me ^(AW)injures himself;
All those who ^(AX)hate me ^(AY)love death.”

⁷ One who ^(BL)corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself,
And one who rebukes a wicked person gets ^[q]insults for himself.
^8 (BM)Do not rebuke a scoffer, or he will hate you;
^(BN)Rebuke a wise person and he will love you.
⁹ Give instruction to a wise person and he will become still wiser;
Teach a righteous person and he will ^(BO)increase his insight.
¹⁰ The ^(BP)fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
¹¹ For ^(BQ)by me your days will be multiplied,
And years of life will be added to you.
¹² If you are wise, you are wise ^(BR)for yourself,
And if you ^(BS)scoff, you alone will ^[r]suffer from it.

^13 [s]A woman of foolishness is ^(BT)boisterous,
She has a lack of understanding and ^(BU)knows nothing.
¹⁴ She sits at the doorway of her house,
On a seat by ^(BV)the high places of the city,
¹⁵ Calling to those who pass by,
Who are going straight on their paths:
¹⁶ “^(BW)Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”
And to him who lacks ^[t]understanding she says,
¹⁷ “Stolen water is sweet;
And ^(BX)bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
¹⁸ But he does not know that the ^[u]dead are there,
That her guests are in the ^(BY)depths of Sheol.