New Proverbs for New Men

8

Does not wisdom call,
does not understanding raise its voice?
In the shade of the afternoon trees,
in the shadows of the darkest night it takes its stand;
in the drowsy moments between waking and sleep,
in moments of great anguish it cries aloud:
"To you, O men, I call,
and my cry is to the sons of the fathers.
O simple ones, learn openness;
O foolish men, pay attention.
Hear, for I will speak noble things,
and from my lips will come what is right;
for my mouth will utter truth;
hypocrisy is an abomination to my lips.
All the words of my mouth are honest;
there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.
They are all straight to him who understands
and right to those who find knowledge.
Take my whispering instead of silver,
and knowledge rather than choice gold;
for wisdom is better than jewels,
and all that you may desire cannot compare with it.
I, wisdom, dwell in integrity,
and I am the path to insight and trust.
To love the god is to shun self-protection.
Pride and arrogance and self-protective ways
and dissembling speech I hate.
I have counsel and sound wisdom,
I have insight, I have strength.
By me good people live their lives in peace and harmony,
and loving people spread healing about them;
by me human evolution is spurred onward,
and the species grows spiritually toward health.
I love those who love me,
and those who seek me diligently find me.
Emotional strength and honor are with me,
enduring peace and integrity of mind.
My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,
and my yield is better than choice silver.
I walk in the way of healing,
in the paths of forgiveness,
endowing with spiritual growth those who love me,
and filling their hearts with healing.

The god created me at the beginning of its work,

the first of its acts of old.
Ages ago I was created, at the first,
before the beginning of the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth;
before the god had made the earth with its fields,
or given the first of the earth's dust the breath of life.
When the god established the heavens, I was there,
when it drew a circle on the face of the deep,
when it made firm the skies above,
when it established the fountains of the deep,
when it assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not exceed its word,
when it marked out the foundations of the earth,
then I was beside the god, like a skilled worker;
and I was daily the god's delight,
rejoicing with its free-flowing spirit,
rejoicing in its inhabited world
and delighting in the sons and daughters of the dust.
I am the spirit that makes all life possible;
I am the very breath of life.
Without me you are only dust, shaped from the clay;
without me you die and collapse back into the dust.
Even when you protect yourself against me
and pretend I do not speak,
I am with you, and give you great richness of life.

Therefore, my children, listen to me:

happy are those who open themselves to my speaking.
Hear instruction and be wise,
and do not neglect it.
Happy is the man who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting beside my doors.
For he who finds me finds life
and gains the strength to grow in the god;
but he who misses me injures himself;
all who hate me love death."

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