Yahweh created me, first-fruits of his
fashioning,
before the oldest of his works.
From everlasting, I was firmly set,
from the beginning, before the earth
came into being.
The deep was not, when I was born,
nor were the springs with their
abounding waters.
Before the mountains were settled,
before the hills, I came to birth;
before he had made the earth, the
countryside,
and the first elements of the world.
When he fixed the heavens firm, I was
there,
when he drew a circle on the surface of
the deep,
when he thickened the clouds above,
when the sources of the deep began to
swell,
when he assigned the sea its boundaries
and the waters will not encroach on the
shore,
when he traced the foundations of the
earth,
I was beside the master craftsman,
delighting him day after day,
ever at play in his presence,
at play everywhere on his earth,
delighting to be with the children of
men. |