The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 Do you hear Lady Wisdom calling? Can you hear Madame Insight raising her voice?
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Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice?
2 She's taken her stand at First and Main, at the busiest intersection.
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On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand;
3 Right in the city square where the traffic is thickest, she shouts,
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beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:
4 "You - I'm talking to all of you, everyone out here on the streets!
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"To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man.
5 Listen, you idiots - learn good sense! You blockheads - shape up!
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O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense.
6 Don't miss a word of this - I'm telling you how to live well, I'm telling you how to live at your best.
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Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right,
7 My mouth chews and savors and relishes truth - I can't stand the taste of evil!
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for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
8 You'll only hear true and right words from my mouth; not one syllable will be twisted or skewed.
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All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.
9 You'll recognize this as true - you with open minds; truth-ready minds will see it at once.
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They are all straight to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge.
10 Prefer my life-disciplines over chasing after money, and God-knowledge over a lucrative career.
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Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold,
11 For Wisdom is better than all the trappings of wealth; nothing you could wish for holds a candle to her.
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for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.
12 "I am Lady Wisdom, and I live next to Sanity; Knowledge and Discretion live just down the street.
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"I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion.
13 The Fear-of-God means hating Evil, whose ways I hate with a passion - pride and arrogance and crooked talk.
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The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
14 Good counsel and common sense are my characteristics; I am both Insight and the Virtue to live it out.
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I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength.
15 With my help, leaders rule, and lawmakers legislate fairly;
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By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just;
16 With my help, governors govern, along with all in legitimate authority.
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by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly.
17 I love those who love me; those who look for me find me.
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I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
18 Wealth and Glory accompany me - also substantial Honor and a Good Name.
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Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness.
19 My benefits are worth more than a big salary, even a very big salary; the returns on me exceed any imaginable bonus.
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My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver.
20 You can find me on Righteous Road - that's where I walk - at the intersection of Justice Avenue,
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I walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice,
21 Handing out life to those who love me, filling their arms with life - armloads of life!
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granting an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.
22 "God sovereignly made me - the first, the basic - before he did anything else.
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"The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.
23 I was brought into being a long time ago, well before Earth got its start.
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Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
24 I arrived on the scene before Ocean, yes, even before Springs and Rivers and Lakes.
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When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.
25 Before Mountains were sculpted and Hills took shape, I was already there, newborn;
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Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth,
26 Long before God stretched out Earth's Horizons, and tended to the minute details of Soil and Weather,
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before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world.
27 And set Sky firmly in place, I was there. When he mapped and gave borders to wild Ocean,
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When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 built the vast vault of Heaven, and installed the fountains that fed Ocean,
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when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,
29 When he drew a boundary for Sea, posted a sign that said, no trespassing, And then staked out Earth's foundations,
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when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 I was right there with him, making sure everything fit. Day after day I was there, with my joyful applause, always enjoying his company,
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then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily hisdelight, rejoicing before him always,
31 Delighted with the world of things and creatures, happily celebrating the human family.
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rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.
32 "So, my dear friends, listen carefully; those who embrace these my ways are most blessed.
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"And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways.
33 Mark a life of discipline and live wisely; don't squander your precious life.
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Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.
34 Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me, awake and ready for me each morning, alert and responsive as I start my day's work.
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Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.
35 When you find me, you find life, real life, to say nothing of God's good pleasure.
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For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD,
36 But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul; when you reject me, you're flirting with death."
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but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death."
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.