22“The Lord begot me, the beginning of his works,
the forerunner of his deeds of long ago;
23From of old I was formed,
at the first, before the earth.
24When there were no deeps I was brought forth,
when there were no fountains or springs of water;
25Before the mountains were settled into place,
before the hills, I was brought forth;
26When the earth and the fields were not yet made,
nor the first clods of the world.
27When he established the heavens, there was I,
when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep;
28When he made firm the skies above,
when he fixed fast the springs of the deep;
29When he set for the sea its limit,
so that the waters should not transgress his command;
When he fixed the foundations of earth,
30 then was I beside him as artisan;
I was his delight day by day,
playing before him all the while,
31Playing over the whole of his earth,
having my delight with human beings.