Doth not wysdome crie? doth not vnderstondinge put forth hir voyce?

Stondeth she not in the hye places in the stretes & wayes?

doth she not crie before the whole cite, & in the gates where men go out & in?

It is you, o ye men (sayeth she) whom I call. Unto you (o ye childre of me) lift I vp my voyce.

Take hede vnto knowlege o ye ignoraut, be wyse in herte o ye fooles.

Geue eare, for I wil speake of greate matters, & open my lippes to tell thinges that be right.

For my throte shal be talkynge of ye trueth, & my lippes abhorre vngodlynesse.

All the wordes of my mouth are rightuous, there is no frowardnesse ner falsede therin.

They are all playne to soch as wil vnderstode, & right to the that fynde knowlege.

Receaue my doctryne therfore and not syluer, & knowlege more then fyne golde.

For wysdome is more worth then precious stones, yee all the thinges that thou cast desyre, are not to be compared vnto it.

I wysdome haue my dwellynge wt knowlege, and prudent councell is myne owne.

With me is the feare of the LORDE, and ye eschuynge of euell. As for pryde, disdayne, an euell waye, & a mouth that speaketh wicked thiges, I vtterly abhorre the.

I can geue councell, and be a gyde: I haue vnderstondinge, I haue strength.

Thorow me, kynges reigne: thorow me, prices make iust lawes.

Thorow me, lordes beare rule, and all iudges of ye earth execute iudgmet.

I am louynge vnto those that loue me, and they that seke me early, shal fynde me.

Riches & honoure are wt me, yee excellent goodes & rightuousnes.

My frute is better the golde & precious stone, & myne encrease more worth then fyne syluer.

I walke in ye waye of rightuousnes, & in the strete of iudgment.

That I maye sende prosperite to those that loue me, & to encrease their treasure.

The LORDE himself had me in possessio in the begynnynge of his wayes, or euer he begame his workes aforetyme.

I haue bene ordened fro euerlastige, & fro ye beginnynge or euer the earth was made.

When I was borne, there were nether depthes ner springes of water.

Before the foundacions of ye mountaynes were layed, yee before all hilles was I borne.

The earth and all that is vpon the earth was not yet made, no not the grounde it self.

For when he made the heauens, I was present: wha he set the depthes in ordre:

whan he hanged the cloudes aboue: whan he fastened the sprynges of the depe:

Whan he shutt the see within certayne bowndes, that ye waters shulde not go ouer their marckes. When he layed the foundacions of the earth,

I was with him, ordringe all thinges, delytinge daylie & reioysynge allwaye before him.

As for the roude copase of his worlde, I make it ioyfull, for my delyte is to be amoge the children of men.

Therfore harken vnto me (o ye children) for blessed are they that kepe my wayes.

O geue eare vnto nurtoure, be wyse, and refuse it not.

Blessed is ye man that heareth me, watchinge daylie at my gates, & geuynge attendaunce at the postes of my dores.

For who so fyndeth me, fyndeth life, and shal optayne fauoure of the LORDE.

But who so offendeth agaynst me, hurteth his owne soule. All they that hate me, are the louers of death.