8 Doth not wisdom cry out, and understanding put forth her voice?

² She standeth at the top of high places, by the wayside where the paths meet.

³ She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors:

⁴ “Unto you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of man.

⁵ O ye simple, understand wisdom; and ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.

⁶ Hear, for I will speak of excellent things, and the opening of my lips shall be of right things;

⁷ for my mouth shall speak truth, and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

⁸ All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.

⁹ They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.

¹⁰ Receive my instruction and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold;

¹¹ for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

¹² “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and disclose knowledge of learned thoughts.

¹³ The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the froward mouth do I hate.

¹⁴ Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, I have strength.

¹⁵ By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.

¹⁶ By me princes rule and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.

¹⁷ I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me.

¹⁸ Riches and honor are with me, yea, durable riches and righteousness.

¹⁹ My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver.

²⁰ I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment,

²¹ that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance, and I will fill their treasuries.

²² “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old.

²³ I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.

²⁴ When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no fountains abounding with water.

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

²⁶ while as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the first parts of dust of the world.

²⁷ When He prepared the heavens, I was there; when He set a compass upon the face of the deep,

²⁸ when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains of the deep,

²⁹ when He gave to the sea His decree that the waters should not pass His commandment, when He appointed the foundations of the earth”

³⁰ then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him, and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him,

³¹ rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.

³² “Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children, for blessed are they that keep my ways.

³³ Hear instruction and be wise, and refuse it not.

³⁴ Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.

³⁵ For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain the favor of the Lord.

³⁶ But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul; all they that hate me love death.”

9 Wisdom hath built her house; she hath hewn out her seven pillars.

² She hath killed her beasts, she hath mingled her wine, she hath also furnished her table.

³ She hath sent forth her maidens, she crieth from the highest places of the city:

⁴ “Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither!” As for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him:

⁵ “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine which I have mixed.

⁶ Forsake the foolish and live, and go in the way of understanding.”

⁷ He that reproveth a scorner getteth for himself shame, and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a reproach.

⁸ Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee; rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.

⁹ Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

¹⁰ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

¹¹ For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.

¹² If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself; but if thou be a scorner, thou alone shall bear it.

¹³ A foolish woman is clamorous; she is simple and knoweth nothing.

¹⁴ For she sitteth at the door of her house on a seat in the high places of the city,

¹⁵ to call passers by who go rightly on their ways:

¹⁶ “Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither.” And as for him that lacketh understanding, she saith to him,

¹⁷ “Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

¹⁸ But he knoweth not that the dead are there, and that her guests are in the depths of hell. The proverbs of Solomon:

3 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?

² Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men;

³ for ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but in fleshy tablets of the heart.

⁴ And such is the trust we have through Christ to Godward.

⁵ Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as coming from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,

⁶ who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament — not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.

⁷ But if the ministration of death, written and engraved in stones was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away with,

⁸ how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be more glorious?

⁹ For if the ministration of condemnation is glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory!

¹⁰ For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.

¹¹ For if that which is done away with was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

¹² Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech—

¹³ and not as Moses, who put a veil over his face, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which was being abolished.

¹⁴ But their minds were blinded; for until this day the same veil remaineth untaken away in the reading of the old testament, which veil is done away with in Christ.

¹⁵ But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their hearts.

¹⁶ Nevertheless, when they shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.

¹⁷ Now the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

¹⁸ But we all, with uncovered face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.