Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

²² “I, wisdom, was with the Lord when he began his work,
    long before he made anything else.
²³ I was created in the very beginning,
    even before the world began.
²⁴ I was born before there were oceans,
    or springs overflowing with water,
²⁵ before the hills were there,
    before the mountains were put in place.
²⁶ God had not made the earth or fields,
    not even 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 when he made the clouds above
    and put the deep underground springs in place.
²⁹ I was there when he ordered the sea
    not to go beyond the borders he had set.
I was there when he laid the earth’s foundation.
³⁰ I was like a child by his side.
I was delighted every day,
    enjoying his presence all the time,
³¹ enjoying the whole world,
    and delighted with all its people.

³ I look at your heavens,
    which you made with your fingers.
I see the moon and stars,
    which you created.
⁴ But why are people even important to you?
    Why do you take care of human beings?
⁵ You made them a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
⁶ You put them in charge of everything you made.
    You put all things under their 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 Lord,
    your name is the most wonderful name in all the earth!