Proverbiorum 6
1 Fili mi, si spoponderis pro amico tuo, defixisti apud extraneum manum tuam,
My son, if you be surety for your friend, if you have stricken your hand with a stranger,
2 illaqueatus es verbis oris tui, et captus propriis sermonibus.
You are snared with the words of your mouth, you are taken with the words of your mouth.
3 Fac ergo quod dico fili mi, et temetipsum libera: quia incidisti in manum proximi tui. Discurre, festina, suscita amicum tuum:
Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself, when you are come into the hand of your friend; go, humble yourself, and make sure your friend.
4 ne dederis somnum oculis tuis, nec dormitent palpebræ tuæ.
Give not sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.
5 Eruere quasi damula de manu, et quasi avis de manu aucupis.
Deliver yourself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Vade ad formicam o piger, et considera vias eius, et disce sapientiam:
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
7 quæ cum non habeat ducem, nec præceptorem, nec principem,
Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
8 parat in æstate cibum sibi, et congregat in messe quod comedat.
Provides her meat in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.
9 Usquequo piger dormies? quando consurges e somno tuo?
How long will you sleep, O sluggard? when will you arise out of your sleep?
10 Paululum dormies, paululum dormitabis, paululum conseres manus ut dormias:
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
11 et veniet tibi quasi viator, egestas, et pauperies quasi vir armatus. Si vero impiger fueris, veniet ut fons messis tua, et egestas longe fugiet a te.
So shall your poverty come as one that travels, and your want as an armed man.
12 Homo apostata, vir inutilis, graditur ore perverso,
A naughty person, a wicked man, walks with a fraudulent mouth.
13 annuit oculis, terit pede, digito loquitur,
He winks with his eyes, he speaks with his feet, he teaches with his fingers;
14 pravo corde machinatur malum, et omni tempore iurgia seminat.
Frowardness is in his heart, he devises mischief continually; he sows discord.
15 Huic extemplo veniet perditio sua, et subito conteretur, nec habebit ultra medicinam.
Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.
16 Sex sunt, quæ odit Dominus, et septimum detestatur anima eius:
These six things does the LORD hate: yes, seven are an abomination to him:
17 Oculos sublimes, linguam mendacem, manus effundentes innoxium sanguinem,
A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 cor machinans cogitationes pessimas, pedes veloces ad currendum in malum,
An heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19 proferentem mendacia testem fallacem, et eum, qui seminat inter fratres discordias.
A false witness that speaks lies, and he that sows discord among brothers.
20 Conserva fili mi præcepta patris tui, et ne dimittas legem matris tuæ.
My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of your mother:
21 Liga ea in corde tuo iugiter, et circumda gutturi tuo.
Bind them continually on your heart, and tie them about your neck.
22 Cum ambulaveris, gradiantur tecum: cum dormieris, custodiant te, et evigilans loquere cum eis.
When you go, it shall lead you; when you sleep, it shall keep you; and when you wake, it shall talk with you.
23 Quia mandatum lucerna est, et lex lux, et via vitæ increpatio disciplinæ:
For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
24 ut custodiant te a muliere mala, et a blanda lingua extraneæ.
To keep you from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
25 Non concupiscat pulchritudinem eius cor tuum, nec capiaris nutibus illius:
Lust not after her beauty in your heart; neither let her take you with her eyelids.
26 pretium enim scorti vix est unius panis: mulier autem viri pretiosam animam capit.
For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
27 Numquid potest homo abscondere ignem in sinu suo, ut vestimenta illius non ardeant?
Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
28 aut ambulare super prunas, ut non comburantur plantæ eius?
Can one go on hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
29 sic qui ingreditur ad mulierem proximi sui, non erit mundus cum tetigerit eam.
So he that goes in to his neighbor’s wife; whoever touches her shall not be innocent.
30 Non grandis est culpa, cum quis furatus fuerit: furatur enim ut esurientem impleat animam:
Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
31 deprehensus quoque reddet septuplum, et omnem substantiam domus suæ tradet.
But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
32 Qui autem adulter est, propter cordis inopiam perdet animam suam:
But whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding: he that does it destroys his own soul.
33 turpitudinem et ignominiam congregat sibi, et opprobrium illius non delebitur.
A wound and dishonor shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
34 Quia zelus et furor viri non parcet in die vindictæ,
For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35 nec acquiescet cuiusquam precibus, nec suscipiet pro redemptione dona plurima.
He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though you give many gifts.
