1 Does not wisdom {chokhmah: practical skill} call out, and understanding {tevunah: discerning judgment} give forth her voice?
2 At the top of the heights {meromim: elevated places}, beside the road {dāreḵ: main thoroughfare}, at the crossroads she takes her stand.
3 By the gates, at the entrance {mevo: public entry} of the city and at the doorways, she raises her voice {taronnah: calls out loudly}.
4 To you, O men {ishim: addressed audience}, I call, and my voice is to the sons of Adam {adam: humankind archetype}.
5 Understand prudence {armah: shrewd wisdom}, you simple ones; and you fools, understand the heart {lev: seat of mind and will}.
6 Listen, for I will speak noble things {negidim: princely insights}, and the opening of my lips will reveal what is right {meysharim: upright standards}.
7 For my mouth speaks{yehgeh: utters faithfully} truth, and wickedness is an abomination to my lips{sefatay: organ of speech}.
8 In righteousness, all the sayings of my mouth {fi: source of utterance}; none of them are twisted or crooked {ikkesh: morally bent}.
9 All of them are right {nekhochim: fittingly precise} to the discerning one and upright to those who find knowledge {da'at: solid understanding}.
10 Take my instruction {musar: moral discipline} and not silver; and knowledge {da‘at: keen discernment} rather than choice gold.
11 For wisdom is better than rubies {peninim: precious stones}, and all desirable things {chafatzim: valued possessions} cannot be compared with her.
12 I, wisdom {chokhmah: skillful discernment}, dwell with prudence and find knowledge of schemes {mezimot: thoughtful plans}.
13 The fear of the LORD{YHWH, Wisdom Giver} is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth{tahpukot: twisted speech}—I hate.
14 Counsel and sound wisdom {tushiyyah: abiding skill} are mine; I possess understanding; strength {gevurah: inner might} is mine.
15 By me {bi: source of authority} kings reign, and rulers decree justice {tsedek: covenantal justice}.
16 By me princes {sarim: royal officials} govern, and nobles, all the judges who judge righteously {tsedek: right order}.
17 I love those who love Me {ohavai: devoted lovers}, and those who seek Me early {meshacharai: diligent dawn seekers} will find Me.
18 Riches and honor {kavod: dignified status} are with me; enduring wealth and righteousness {tsedaqah: covenant uprightness}.
19 My fruit {piryi: produce of wisdom} is better than fine gold and pure gold, and my yield is more desirable than select silver {kesef: silver as measure of wealth}.
20 I walk in the way of righteousness {tsedaqah: moral rightness}, in the midst of the paths of justice {mishpat: fair judgment}.
21 I grant an inheritance to those who love me {ohavai: devoted followers}, and I will fill their treasuries {otzroteihem: storehouses of wealth}.
22 The LORD {YHWH, Source of Wisdom} possessed me at the beginning{reishit: first in sequence} of His way, before His works of long ago.
23 From eternity, I was established {nissakhti: set in position}, from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth {erets: created realm}.
24 When there were no depths {tehomot: primeval deep}, I was brought forth; when there were no springs {ma’yanot: subterranean sources} abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains were settled {hatbau: fixed securely}, before the hills, I was brought forth {cholalti: brought into existence with care}.
26 Before He {YHWH, Sovereign Creator} made the land or the fields {chutzot: open expanses}, or the beginning of the dust of the world.
27 When He {YHWH, Cosmic Architect} established the heavens, there I was; when He inscribed a circle {chug: spherical boundary} upon the face of the deep.
28 When He {YHWH, Creative Architect} made firm the clouds above, when He strengthened the springs {ʿînōt: water sources} of the deep,
29 When He {YHWH, Supreme Order-Giver} established for the sea its boundary {chuko: fixed limit}, so that the waters would not pass beyond His mouth, and when He marked out the foundations of the earth.
30 And I was beside Him {YHWH, Source of Wisdom} as a master craftsman {amon: skilled artisan}; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing before Him at all times.
31 Rejoicing {mesakheket: playfully delighting} in his habitable land {betevel: inhabited realm}, and my delight was with the children of man.
32 And now, children, listen to me, and blessed {ashrei: favored, prosperous} are those who keep my ways {derakhai: moral path}.
33 Listen to instruction {musar: moral guidance} and become wise; do not neglect {tifre'u: reject counsel} it.
34 Blessed {ashrei: happy/fortunate} is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates {daltotai: thresholds} and guarding the doorposts of my entrances.
35 For whoever finds me {motzei: habitual seeking} has found life and obtains favor from the LORD {YHWH, Source of Blessing}.
36 But whoever sins against Me does violence to his own soul {nafsho: innermost being}; all who hate Me love death {mavet: the state of lifelessness}.