1Doth not wysdome crie? doth not vnderstondinge put forth hir voyce?
2Stondeth she not in the hye places in the stretes & wayes?
3doth she not crie before the whole cite, & in the gates where men go out & in?
4It is you, o ye men (sayeth she) whom I call. Unto you (o ye childre of me) lift I vp my voyce.
5Take hede vnto knowlege o ye ignoraut, be wyse in herte o ye fooles.
6Geue eare, for I wil speake of greate matters, & open my lippes to tell thinges that be right.
7For my throte shal be talkynge of ye trueth, & my lippes abhorre vngodlynesse.
8All the wordes of my mouth are rightuous, there is no frowardnesse ner falsede therin.
9They are all playne to soch as wil vnderstode, & right to the that fynde knowlege.
10Receaue my doctryne therfore and not syluer, & knowlege more then fyne golde.
11For wysdome is more worth then precious stones, yee all the thinges that thou cast desyre, are not to be compared vnto it.
12I wysdome haue my dwellynge wt knowlege, and prudent councell is myne owne.
13With 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.
14I can geue councell, and be a gyde: I haue vnderstondinge, I haue strength.
15Thorow me, kynges reigne: thorow me, prices make iust lawes.
16Thorow me, lordes beare rule, and all iudges of ye earth execute iudgmet.
17I am louynge vnto those that loue me, and they that seke me early, shal fynde me.