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8:1  Listen! Wisdom is calling out. Reason is making herself heard.
8:2  On the hilltops near the road and at the crossroads she stands.
8:3  At the entrance to the city, beside the gates, she calls:
8:4  “I appeal to all of you; I call to everyone on earth.
8:5  Are you immature? Learn to be mature. Are you foolish? Learn to have sense.
8:6  Listen to my excellent words; all I tell you is right.
8:7  What I say is the truth; lies are hateful to me.
8:8  Everything I say is true; nothing is false or misleading.
8:9  To those with insight, it is all clear; to the well-informed, it is all plain.
8:10  Choose my instruction instead of silver; choose knowledge rather than the finest gold.
8:11  “I am Wisdom, I am better than jewels; nothing you want can compare with me.
8:12  I am Wisdom, and I have insight; I have knowledge and sound judgment.
8:13  To honor the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil ways and false words.
8:14  I make plans and carry them out. I have understanding, and I am strong.
8:15  I help kings to govern and rulers to make good laws.
8:16  Every ruler on earth governs with my help, officials and nobles alike.
8:17  I love those who love me; whoever looks for me can find me.
8:18  I have riches and honor to give, prosperity and success.
8:19  What you get from me is better than the finest gold, better than the purest silver.
8:20  I walk the way of righteousness; I follow the paths of justice,
8:21  giving wealth to those who love me, filling their houses with treasures.
8:22  “The Lord created me first of all, the first of his works, long ago.
8:23  I was made in the very beginning, at the first, before the world began.
8:24  I was born before the oceans, when there were no springs of water.
8:25  I was born before the mountains, before the hills were set in place,
8:26  before God made the earth and its fields or even the first handful of soil.
8:27  I was there when he set the sky in place, when he stretched the horizon across the ocean,
8:28  when he placed the clouds in the sky, when he opened the springs of the ocean
8:29  and ordered the waters of the sea to rise no further than he said. I was there when he laid the earth's foundations.
8:30  I was beside him like an architect, I was his daily source of joy, always happy in his presence—
8:31  happy with the world and pleased with the human race.
8:32  “Now, young people, listen to me. Do as I say, and you will be happy.
8:33  Listen to what you are taught. Be wise; do not neglect it.
8:34  Those who listen to me will be happy— those who stay at my door every day, waiting at the entrance to my home.
8:35  Those who find me find life, and the Lord will be pleased with them.
8:36  Those who do not find me hurt themselves; anyone who hates me loves death.”