17  ^lI love those who love me,

and ^mthose who seek me diligently find me.

18  ⁿRiches and honor are with me,

^oenduring wealth and ^orighteousness.

19  My fruit is ^pbetter than ^qgold, even fine gold,

and my yield than ^rchoice silver.

20  I walk in the way of righteousness,

in the paths of justice,

21  granting an inheritance to those who love me,

and filling their treasuries.

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,