Proverbs 8
8
Wisdom’s Appeal
1Doesn’t Wisdom # Pr 1:20-21; 9:3,13-15 call out?
Doesn’t Understanding make her voice heard?
2At the heights overlooking the road,
at the crossroads, she takes her stand.
3Beside the gates # Jb 29:7 at the entry to # Lit the mouth of the city,
at the main entrance, she cries out:
4“People, I call out to you;
my cry is to mankind.
5Learn to be shrewd, you who are inexperienced;
develop common sense, you who are foolish.
6Listen, for I speak of noble things,
and what my lips say is right.
7For my mouth tells the truth, # Ps 37:30
and wickedness is detestable to my lips.
8All the words of my mouth are righteous;
none of them are deceptive or perverse. # Dt 32:5; Pr 2:15; Php 2:15
9All of them are clear to the perceptive, # Pr 14:6
and right to those who discover knowledge.
10Accept my instruction instead of silver,
and knowledge rather than pure gold. # Pr 3:14-15; 8:19; 16:16
11For wisdom is better than jewels, # Jb 28:12-19
and nothing desirable can compare with it. # Pr 3:15; 20:15
12I, Wisdom, share a home with shrewdness
and have knowledge and discretion. # Pr 1:4
13To fear the Lord is to hate evil. # Pr 16:6
I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct,
and perverse speech.
14I possess good advice and competence; # Or resourcefulness
I have understanding and strength. # Ec 7:19
15It is by me that kings reign # 2Ch 1:10; Dn 2:21; Rm 13:1
and rulers enact just law;
16by me, princes lead,
as do nobles and all righteous judges. # Some Hb mss, LXX read nobles who judge the earth
17I love those who love me, # 1Sm 2:30; Jn 14:21
and those who search for me find me. # Pr 1:28; 2:4-5; Jms 1:5
18With me are riches and honor, # Pr 3:16
lasting wealth and righteousness. # Ps 112:3; Mt 6:33
19My fruit is better than solid gold,
and my harvest than pure silver. # Jb 28:15; Pr 3:14; 8:10; 16:16
20I walk in the way of righteousness,
along the paths of justice,
21giving wealth as an inheritance to those who love me,
and filling their treasuries.
22“The Lord made # Or possessed, or begot me
at the beginning of His creation, # Lit way
before His works of long ago. # Gn 1:1; Jb 28:26-28; Ps 104:24
23I was formed before ancient times,
from the beginning, before the earth began. # Jn 1:1-3; 17:5
24I was born
when there were no watery depths # Gn 1:2; Pr 3:20
and no springs filled with water.
25I was delivered
before the mountains and hills were established, # Ps 90:2
26before He made the land, the fields,
or the first soil on earth.
27I was there when He established the heavens, # Pr 3:19
when He laid out the horizon on the surface of the ocean, # Jb 26:10
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, # Jb 38:8-11; Ps 104:9
when He laid out the foundations of the earth. # Jb 38:4-5; Ps 104:5
30I was a skilled craftsman # Or a confidant, or a child, or was constantly beside Him. # Jb 28:20-27; 38–39; Pr 3:19-20; Jr 10:12; 51:15; Zch 13:7; Jn 1:2-3
I was His # LXX; MT omits His delight every day,
always rejoicing before Him.
31I was rejoicing in His inhabited world, # Jb 38:4-7
delighting in the human race. # Heb 2:6-8
32“And now, my sons, listen to me;
those who keep my ways are happy. # Ps 119:1-2; 128:1; Lk 11:28
33Listen to instruction and be wise; # Pr 4:1
don’t ignore it.
34Anyone who listens to me is happy, # Pr 3:13
watching at my doors every day,
waiting by the posts of my doorway.
35For the one who finds me finds life # Pr 4:4,22; 7:2; 9:11; 12:28; Jn 17:3
and obtains favor from the Lord, # Pr 3:4; 12:2; 13:13; 18:22
36but the one who misses me # Or who sins against me harms himself; # Pr 15:32
all who hate me love death.” # Pr 11:19; 21:6
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Proverbs 8: HCSB
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