12
When I am silent they will wait for me, and when I speak they will give heed; and when I speak at greater length they will put their hands on their mouths.
13
Because of her I shall have immortality, and leave an everlasting remembrance to those who come after me.
14
I shall govern peoples, and nations will be subject to me;
15
dread monarchs will be afraid of me when they hear of me; among the people I shall show myself capable, and courageous in war.
16
When I enter my house, I shall find rest with her, for companionship with her has no bitterness, and life with her has no pain, but gladness and joy.
17
When I considered these things inwardly, and thought upon them in my mind, that in kinship with wisdom there is immortality,
18
and in friendship with her, pure delight, and in the labors of her hands, unfailing wealth, and in the experience of her company, understanding, and renown in sharing her words, I went about seeking how to get her for myself.
19
As a child I was by nature well endowed, and a good soul fell to my lot;
20
or rather, being good, I entered an undefiled body.
21
But I perceived that I would not possess wisdom unless God gave her to me -- and it was a mark of insight to know whose gift she was -- so I appealed to the Lord and besought him, and with my whole heart I said: