Ab aeterno ordinata sum,
et ex antiquis, antequam terra fieret.
Nondum erant abyssi et ego iam concepta eram:
necdum fontes auarum eruperant:
necdum montes gravi mole constiterant:
ante colles ego parturiebar:
adhuc terram non fecerat, et flumina, et cardines orbis terrae.
Quando praeparabat caelos, aderam:
quando certa lege et gyro vallabat abyssos:
quando aethera firmabat sursum, et librabat fontes aquarum:
quando circumdabat mari terminum suum,
et legem ponebat aquis, ne transirent fines sus;
quando appendebat fundamenta terrae.
Cum eo eram cuncta componens:
et delectabar per singulos dies, ludens coram eo omni tempore,
ludens in orbe terrarum, et deliciae meae esse cum filiis hominum.
English translation
I was appointed from eternity,
from the beginning, before the world began.
When there were no oceans, I was given birth,
when there were no springs abounding with water;
before the mountains were settled in place,
before the hills, I was given birth,
before he made the earth or its fields or any of the dust of the world.
I was there when he set the heavens in place,
when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,
when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,
when he gave the sea its boundary
so the waters would not overstep his command,
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.
Then I was the craftsman at his side.
I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence,
rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind. Proverbs 8:23-31
Latin text
English translation