⁵ Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully.
His faithful love endures forever.

²⁴ O Lord, what a variety of things you have made!
    In wisdom you have made them all.
    The earth is full of your creatures.

²² “The Lord formed me from the beginning,
    before he created anything else.
²³ I was appointed in ages past,
    at the very first, before the earth began.
²⁴ I was born before the oceans were created,
    before the springs bubbled forth their waters.
²⁵ Before the mountains were formed,
    before the hills, I was born—
²⁶ before he had made the earth and fields
    and the first handfuls of soil.
²⁷ I was there when he established the heavens,
    when he drew the horizon on the oceans.
²⁸ I was there when he set the clouds above,
    when he established springs deep in the earth.
²⁹ I was there when he set the limits of the seas,
    so they would not spread beyond their boundaries.
And when he marked off the earth’s foundations,

⁶ The Lord merely spoke,
    and the heavens were created.
He breathed the word,
    and all the stars were born.

¹² But the Lord made the earth by his power,
    and he preserves it by his wisdom.
With his own understanding
    he stretched out the heavens.

¹⁹ By wisdom the Lord founded the earth;
    by understanding he created the heavens.
²⁰ By his knowledge the deep fountains of the earth burst forth,
    and the dew settles beneath the night sky.