22 “The lord formed me from the beginning,before he created anything else.
23 I was appointed in ages past,at the very first, before the earth began.
24 I was born before the oceans were created,before the springs bubbled forth their waters.
25 Before the mountains were formed,before the hills, I was born—
26 before he had made the earth and fieldsand the first handfuls of soil.
27 I was there when he established the heavens,when he drew the horizon on the oceans.
28 I was there when he set the clouds above,when he established springs deep in the earth.