Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

²² “I, wisdom, was with God when he began his work.
    This was before he made anything else long ago.
²³ I was appointed in the very beginning,
    even before the world began.
²⁴ I began before there were oceans.
    There were no springs overflowing with water.
²⁵ I began before the hills were there.
    The mountains had not even been put in place.
²⁶ God still had not made the earth or fields.
    He had not even made the first dust of the earth.
²⁷ I was there when God put the skies in place,
    when he stretched the horizon over the oceans.
²⁸ I was there when he made the clouds above.
    I was there when he put the fountains in the oceans.
²⁹ I was there when he ordered the sea
    not to go beyond the borders he had set for it.
I was there when he laid the earth’s foundation.
³⁰     I was like a child by his side.
I was happy every day
    and enjoyed being in his presence.
³¹ I enjoyed the whole world.
    And I was happy with all its people.

³ I look at the heavens,
    which you made with your hands.
I see the moon and stars,
    which you created.
⁴ But why is man important to you?
    Why do you take care of human beings?
⁵ You made man a little lower than the angels.
    And you crowned him with glory and honor.
⁶ You put him in charge of everything you made.
    You put all things under his control:
⁷ all the sheep, the cattle
    and the wild animals,
⁸ the birds in the sky,
    the fish in the sea,
    and everything that lives under water.

⁹ Lord our Master,
    your name is the most wonderful name in all the earth!