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Proverbs 8 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

The Excellence of Wisdom
Wisdom Is Everlasting
Pro 8:1Does not wisdom cry out,
And understanding lift up her voice?
Pro 8:2She takes her stand on the top of the high hill,
Beside the way, where the paths meet.
Pro 8:3She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city,
At the entrance of the doors:
Pro 8:4“To you, O men, I call,
And my voice is to the sons of men.
Pro 8:5O you simple ones, understand prudence,
And you fools, be of an understanding heart.
Pro 8:6Listen, for I will speak of excellent things,
And from the opening of my lips will come right things;
Pro 8:7For my mouth will speak truth;
Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
Pro 8:8All the words of my mouth are with righteousness;
Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.
Pro 8:9They are all plain to him who understands,
And right to those who find knowledge.
Pro 8:10Receive my instruction, and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choice gold;
Pro 8:11For wisdom is better than rubies,
And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.
Pro 8:12“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
And find out knowledge and discretion.
Pro 8:13The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverse mouth I hate.
Pro 8:14Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom;
I am understanding, I have strength.
Pro 8:15By me kings reign,
And rulers decree justice.
Pro 8:16By me princes rule, and nobles,
All the judges of the earth.[fn]
Pro 8:17I love those who love me,
And those who seek me diligently will find me.
Pro 8:18Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring riches and righteousness.
Pro 8:19My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold,
And my revenue than choice silver.
Pro 8:20I traverse the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
Pro 8:21That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries.
Pro 8:22“The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
Pro 8:23I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
Pro 8:24When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
Pro 8:25Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
Pro 8:26While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields,
Or the primal dust of the world.
Pro 8:27When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
Pro 8:28When He established the clouds above,
When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
Pro 8:29When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth,
Pro 8:30Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;[fn]
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
Pro 8:31Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
And my delight was with the sons of men.
Pro 8:32“Now therefore, listen to me, my children,
For blessed are those who keep my ways.
Pro 8:33Hear instruction and be wise,
And do not disdain it.
Pro 8:34Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
Pro 8:35For whoever finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from the LORD;
Pro 8:36But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul;
All those who hate me love death.”
NKJV Footnotes
Masoretic Text, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate read righteousness; Septuagint, Bomberg, and some manuscripts and editions read earth.
A Jewish tradition reads one brought up.
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Proverbs Chapter 8 — Additional Translations: