The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His ways, before
He made anything, from the beginning.
I was set up from eternity, and of old, before the earth was made.
The depths were not as yet, and I was already conceived;
neither had the fountains of waters as yet sprung out;
the mountains with their huge bulk had not as yet been established:
before the hills I was brought forth;
He had not yet made the earth, nor the rivers,
nor the poles of the world.
When He prepared the heavens, I was there;
when with a certain law and compass
He enclosed the depths;
when He established the sky above,
and poised the fountains of waters;
when He compassed the sea with its bounds,
and set a law to the waters that they should not pass their limits;
when He balanced the foundations of the earth;
I was with Him, forming all things, and was delighted every day,
playing before Him at all times, playing in the world:
and my delight is to be with the children of men.
Now therefore, ye children, hear me:
blessed are they that keep my ways.
Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
Blessed is the man that heareth me,
and that watcheth daily at my gates,
and waiteth at the posts of my doors.
He that shall find me, shall find life,
and shall have salvation from the Lord.
