箴言 8
1 智慧不是在呼喚，明智不是在發出她的呼聲嗎﹖
Does not wisdom call out, and prudence bestow her voice?
2 她站在高崗上，站在通衢大道上，
At the summits and the tops of exalted places, standing above the ways, in the midst of the paths,
3 她在城門口，在城入口處大聲喊說：
beside the gates of the city, at the very doors, she speaks, saying:
4 人呀! 我在向你們呼喚，我在對人子發出呼聲：
“O men, to you I call out, and my voice is to the sons of men.
5 幼稚的人，你們應學習機智；愚昧的人，你們應學習聰明。
O little ones, understand discernment. And you who are unwise, turn your souls.
6 你們且聽，因為我要講論卓絕的事，開口述說正直的事。
Listen, for I will speak about great things, and my lips will be opened, so as to foretell what is right.
7 的確，我的口只暢談真理，我厭惡虛詐的唇舌。
My throat shall practice truth, and my lips shall detest the impious.
8 凡我口述的，無不正直，毫無歪曲或乖僻。
All my words are just. There is no depravity in them, and no perversity.
9 我的話為明白的人是誠實的，為有智識的人是正確的。
They are upright to those who understand, and equitable to those who discover knowledge.
10 你們應聽取我的教訓，而不要銀子；應汲取智識，而不取純金；
Accept my discipline, and not money. Choose the doctrine that is greater than gold.
11 因為智慧勝過任何珍珠，任何可貪戀的事都不能與她倫比。
For wisdom is better than all that is most precious, and everything that is desirable cannot compare to her.
12 我──智慧──與機智同居，擁有知識和見識。
I, wisdom, dwell in counsel, and I am inside learned thoughts.
13 敬畏上主，就是憎恨邪惡傲慢驕橫，邪惡的行徑和欺詐的口舌，我都憎惡。
The fear of the Lord hates evil. I detest arrogance, and pride, and every wicked way, and a mouth with a double tongue.
14 機謀才智，屬我所有；聰明勇敢，亦屬於我。
Counsel is mine, and equity. Prudence is mine. Strength is mine.
15 藉著我，君王執政，元首秉公行義；
Through me, kings reign and legislators decree just conditions.
16 藉著我，統治者統治，王侯治理邦土。
Through me, princes rule and the powerful decree justice.
17 我愛那愛我的人；凡尋求我的，必找著我。
I love those who love me. And those who stand watch for me until morning shall discover me.
18 富貴榮譽，恒產正義，都屬我有。
With me, are wealth and glory, superb riches and justice.
19 我的果實，勝過黃金純金；我的出產，比淨銀還要寶貴。
For my fruit is better than gold and precious stones, and my progeny better than choice silver.
20 我走在正義的路上，走在公平的路上，
I walk in the way of justice, in the midst of the paths of judgment,
21 使愛我者獲得產業，充滿他們的寶庫。
so that I may enrich those who love me, and thus complete their treasures.
22 上主自始即拿我作他行動的起始，作他作為的開端：
The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before he made anything, from the beginning.
23 大地還沒有形成以前，遠自太古，從無始我已被立；
I was ordained from eternity, and out of antiquity, before the earth was formed.
24 深淵還沒有存在，水泉還沒有湧出以前，我已受生；
The abyss did not yet exist, and I was already conceived; neither had the fountains of waters yet erupted.
25 山嶽還沒有奠定，丘陵還沒有存在以前，我已受生。
The mountains, with their great mass, had not yet been established. Before the hills, I was brought forth.
26 那時，上主還沒有創造大地、原野、和世上土壤的原質；
Still he had not made the earth, and the rivers, and the poles of the globe of the earth.
27 當他建立高天時，我已在場；當他在深淵之上劃出穹蒼時，
I was already present: when he prepared the heavens; when, with a certain law and a circuit, he fortified the abyss;
28 當他上使穹蒼穩立，下使淵源固定時，
when he made firm the sky above, and set free the fountains of waters;
29 當他為滄海劃定界限，令水不要越境，給大地奠定基礎時，
when he encompassed the sea within its limits, and laid down a law for the waters, lest they transgress their limits; when he weighed the foundations of the earth.
30 我已在他身旁，充作技師。那時，我天天是他的喜悅，不斷在他前歡躍，
I was with him in composing all things. And I was delighted, throughout every day, by playing in his sight at all times,
31 歡躍於塵寰之間，樂與世人共處。
playing in globe of the earth. And my delight was to be with the sons of men.
32 那麼，我兒，你們且聽我：遵循我道路的人是有福的。
Therefore, sons, hear me now. Blessed are those who preserve my ways.
33 你們該聽從教訓，做一智慧人，不要把她拋棄。
Listen to discipline, and become wise, and do not be willing to cast it aside.
34 凡聽從我言，天天在我門前守候，在我門框旁侍立的人，是有福的。
Blessed is the man who listens to me, and who stands watch at my gates every day, and who observes at the posts of my doors.
35 因為誰找到我，便是找到生命，他必由上主獲得恩寵。
He who finds me, finds life, and he will draw salvation from the Lord.
36 但是那得罪我的，等於傷害自己；凡憎恨我的，是自找死亡。
But he who sins against me will wound his own soul. All who hate me love death.”
