Proverbs 8:22-36

22"The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.

23Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

24When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.

25Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth,

26before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world.

27When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,

28when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,

29when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,

30then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,

31rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.

32"And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways.

33Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.

34Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.

35For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord,

36but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death."