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8:1  Doesn’t wisdom call out? Doesn’t understanding make her voice heard?
8:2  At the heights overlooking the road, at the crossroads, she takes her stand.
8:3  Beside the gates leading into the city, at the main entrance, she cries out:
8:4  “People, I call out to you; my cry is to the children of Adam.
8:5  Learn to be shrewd, you who are inexperienced; develop common sense, you who are foolish.
8:6  Listen, for I speak of noble things, and what my lips say is right.
8:7  For my mouth tells the truth, and wickedness is detestable to my lips.
8:8  All the words from my mouth are righteous; none of them are deceptive or perverse.
8:9  All of them are clear to the perceptive, and right to those who discover knowledge.
8:10  Accept my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.
8:11  For wisdom is better than jewels, and nothing desirable can equal it.
8:12  I, wisdom, share a home with shrewdness and have knowledge and discretion.
8:13  To fear the Lord is to hate evil. I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.
8:14  I possess good advice and sound wisdom; I have understanding and strength.
8:15  It is by me that kings reign and rulers enact just law;
8:16  by me, princes lead, as do nobles and all righteous judges.
8:17  I love those who love me, and those who search for me find me.
8:18  With me are riches and honor, lasting wealth and righteousness.
8:19  My fruit is better than solid gold, and my harvest than pure silver.
8:20  I walk in the ways of righteousness, along the paths of justice,
8:21  giving wealth as an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.
8:22  “The Lord acquired me at the beginning of his creation, before his works of long ago.
8:23  I was formed before ancient times, from the beginning, before the earth began.
8:24  I was born when there were no watery depths and no springs filled with water.
8:25  Before the mountains were established, prior to the hills, I was given birth—
8:26  before he made the land, the fields, or the first soil on earth.
8:27  I was there when he established the heavens, when he laid out the horizon on the surface of the ocean,
8:28  when he placed the skies above, when the fountains of the ocean gushed out,
8:29  when he set a limit for the sea so that the waters would not violate his command, when he laid out the foundations of the earth.
8:30  I was a skilled craftsman beside him. I was his delight every day, always rejoicing before him.
8:31  I was rejoicing in his inhabited world, delighting in the children of Adam.
8:32  “And now, sons, listen to me; those who keep my ways are happy.
8:33  Listen to instruction and be wise; don’t ignore it.
8:34  Anyone who listens to me is happy, watching at my doors every day, waiting by the posts of my doorway.
8:35  For the one who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord,
8:36  but the one who misses me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”