²¹ My son, ^(A)do not lose sight of these—
    keep sound wisdom and discretion,
²² and they will be ^(B)life for your soul
    and ^(C)adornment for your neck.

^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.