23  ^t“God understands the way to it,

and he knows its place.

24  For he ^ulooks to the ends of the earth

and sees everything under the heavens.

25  When he ^vgave to the wind its weight

and apportioned the waters by measure,

26  when he made a decree for the rain

and ^wa way for the lightning of the thunder,

27  then he saw it and declared it;

he established it, and searched it out.

28  And he said to man,

‘Behold, ^xthe fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,

and to ^yturn away from evil is understanding.’”

22  ^s“The Lord ^tpossessed¹ me at the beginning of his work,²

the first of his acts ^uof old.

23  Ages ago I was ^vset up,

at the first, ^wbefore the beginning of the earth.

24  When there were no ^xdepths I was ^ybrought forth,

when there were no springs abounding with water.

25  Before the mountains ^zhad been shaped,

^abefore the hills, I was brought forth,

26  before he had made the earth with its fields,

or the first of the dust of the world.

27  When he ^bestablished the heavens, I was there;

when he drew ^ca circle on the face of the deep,

28  when he ^dmade firm the skies above,

when he established³ the fountains of the deep,

29  when he ^eassigned to the sea its ^flimit,

so that the waters might not transgress his command,

when he marked out ^gthe foundations of the earth,

30  then ^hI was beside him, like a master workman,

and I was daily his^{4 i}delight,

rejoicing before him always,

31  ^jrejoicing in his ^kinhabited world

and delighting in the children of man.