Proverbs 8:15-31

15It is by me that kings reign and rulers enact just law;

16by me, princes lead, as do nobles and all righteous judges.

17I love those who love me, and those who search for me find me.

18With me are riches and honor, lasting wealth and righteousness.

19My fruit is better than solid gold, and my harvest than pure silver.

20I walk in the ways of righteousness, along the paths of justice,

21giving wealth as an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.

22“The Lord acquired me at the beginning of his creation, before his works of long ago.

23I was formed before ancient times, from the beginning, before the earth began.

24I was born when there were no watery depths and no springs filled with water.

25Before the mountains were established, prior to the hills, I was given birth —

26before he made the land, the fields, or the first soil on earth.

27I was there when he established the heavens, when he laid out the horizon on the surface of the ocean,

28when he placed the skies above, when the fountains of the ocean gushed out,

29when 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.

30I was a skilled craftsman beside him. I was his delight every day, always rejoicing before him.

31I was rejoicing in his inhabited world, delighting in the children of Adam.