Wisdom! Jehovah's first delight,
The everlasting Son!
Before the first of all His works,
Creation, was begun;
Before the skies and watery clouds,
Before the solid land;
Before the fields, before the floods,
Thou wast at His right hand!
When He adorned the arch of heaven
And built it, Thou wast there,
To order where the sun should rise,
And marshal every star.
When ocean's bed was measured out,
And spread the hoary deep,
Thou gav'st the flood a firm decree
In its own bounds to keep.
When, hung amid the empty space,
The earth was balanced well,
With joy Thou saw'st the mansion where
The sons of men should dwell.
Jesus! from everlasting days
Thy thoughts upon us ran;
Ere sin was known, ere Adam's dust
Was fashioned into man.