Proverbiorum 7
1 [Fili mi, custodi sermones meos, et præcepta mea reconde tibi. Fili,
My son, keep my words and store up my commands within yourself.
2 serva mandata mea, et vives; et legem meam quasi pupillam oculi tui:
Keep my commands and live and keep my instruction as the apple of your eye.
3 liga eam in digitis tuis, scribe illam in tabulis cordis tui.
Tie them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Dic sapientiæ: Soror mea es, et prudentiam voca amicam tuam:
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your kinsman,
5 ut custodiant te a muliere extranea, et ab aliena quæ verba sua dulcia facit.
in order to keep yourself from the adulterous woman, from the immoral woman with her smooth words.
6 De fenestra enim domus meæ per cancellos prospexi,
At the window of my house I was looking out through the lattice.
7 et video parvulos; considero vecordem juvenem,
I looked at the naive people, and I noticed among the young men a youth who had no sense.
8 qui transit per plateam juxta angulum et prope viam domus illius graditur:
That young man passed down the street near her corner, and he went toward her house.
9 in obscuro, advesperascente die, in noctis tenebris et caligine.
It was twilight, in the evening of the day, at the time of night and darkness.
10 Et ecce occurrit illi mulier ornatu meretricio, præparata ad capiendas animas: garrula et vaga,
There a woman met him, dressed like a prostitute, with a false heart.
11 quietis impatiens, nec valens in domo consistere pedibus suis;
She was loud and wayward; her feet did not stay at home.
12 nunc foris, nunc in plateis, nunc juxta angulos insidians.
Now in the streets, then in the market place, and at every corner she waited in ambush.
13 Apprehensumque deosculatur juvenem, et procaci vultu blanditur, dicens:
So she grabbed him and kissed him, with a strong face she said to him,
14 Victimas pro salute vovi; hodie reddidi vota mea:
“I made my peace offering today, I paid my vows,
15 idcirco egressa sum in occursum tuum, desiderans te videre, et reperi.
so came I out to meet you, to eagerly seek your face, and I have found you.
16 Intexui funibus lectulum meum; stravi tapetibus pictis ex Ægypto:
I have spread coverings on my bed, colored linens from Egypt.
17 aspersi cubile meum myrrha, et aloë, et cinnamomo.
I have sprinkled my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Veni, inebriemur uberibus, et fruamur cupitis amplexibus donec illucescat dies.
Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning; let us take great pleasure in acts of love.
19 Non est enim vir in domo sua: abiit via longissima:
For my husband is not at his house; he has gone on a long journey.
20 sacculum pecuniæ secum tulit; in die plenæ lunæ reversurus est in domum suam.
He took a bag of money with him; he will return on the day of the full moon.”
21 Irretivit eum multis sermonibus, et blanditiis labiorum protraxit illum.
With much talk she turned him; with her smooth lips she misled him.
22 Statim eam sequitur quasi bos ductus ad victimam, et quasi agnus lasciviens, et ignorans quod ad vincula stultus trahatur:
He went after her suddenly like an ox going to slaughter, like a deer caught in a trap,
23 donec transfigat sagitta jecur ejus, velut si avis festinet ad laqueum, et nescit quod de periculo animæ illius agitur.
until an arrow pierces through its liver. He was like a bird rushing into a snare. He did not know that it would cost his life.
24 Nunc ergo, fili mi, audi me, et attende verbis oris mei.
Now, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25 Ne abstrahatur in viis illius mens tua, neque decipiaris semitis ejus;
May your heart not turn aside onto her paths; do not be led astray onto her paths.
26 multos enim vulneratos dejecit, et fortissimi quique interfecti sunt ab ea.
She has caused many people to fall down pierced; her dead victims are very many.
