Proverbiorum 23
1 Quando sederis ut comedas cum principe, diligenter attende quæ apposita sunt ante faciem tuam:
When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you:
2 et statue cultrum in gutture tuo, si tamen habes in potestate animam tuam,
And put a knife to your throat, if you be a man given to appetite.
3 ne desideres de cibis eius, in quo est panis mendacii.
Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful food.
4 Noli laborare ut diteris: sed prudentiæ tuæ ponde modum.
Labour not to be rich: cease from your own wisdom.
5 Ne erigas oculos tuos ad opes, quas non potes habere: quia facient sibi pennas quasi aquilæ, et volabunt in cælum.
Will you set your eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
6 Ne comedas cum homine invido, et ne desideres cibos eius:
Eat you not the bread of him that has an evil eye, neither desire you his dainty meats:
7 quoniam in similitudinem arioli, et coniectoris, æstimat quod ignorat. Comede et bibe, dicet tibi: et mens eius non est tecum.
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, says he to you; but his heart is not with you.
8 Cibos, quos comederas, evomes: et perdes pulchros sermones tuos.
The morsel which you have eaten shall you vomit up, and lose your sweet words.
9 In auribus insipientium ne loquaris: qui despicient doctrinam eloquii tui.
Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Ne attingas parvulorum terminos: et agrum pupillorum ne introeas:
Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 Propinquus enim illorum fortis est: et ipse iudicabit contra te causam illorum.
For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with you.
12 Ingrediatur ad doctrinam cor tuum: et aures tuæ ad verba scientiæ.
Apply your heart unto instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Noli subtrahere a puero disciplinam: si enim percusseris eum virga, non morietur.
Withhold not correction from the child: for if you beat him with the rod, he shall not die.
You shall beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from hell. (Sheol h7585)
15 Fili mi, si sapiens fuerit animus tuus, gaudebit tecum cor meum:
My son, if your heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16 et exultabunt renes mei, cum locuta fuerint rectum labia tua.
Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when your lips speak right things.
17 Non æmuletur cor tuum peccatores: sed in timore Domini esto tota die:
Let not your heart envy sinners: but be you in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
18 quia habebis spem in novissimo, et præstolatio tua non auferetur.
For surely there is an end; and your expectation shall not be cut off.
19 Audi fili mi, et esto sapiens: et dirige in via animum tuum.
Hear you, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart in the way.
20 Noli esse in conviviis potatorum, nec in comessationibus eorum, qui carnes ad vescendum conferunt:
Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21 quia vacantes potibus, et dantes symbola consumentur, et vestietur pannis dormitatio.
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
22 Audi patrem tuum, qui genuit te: et ne contemnas cum senuerit mater tua.
Hearken unto your father that brings forth you, and despise not your mother when she is old.
23 Veritatem eme, et noli vendere sapientiam, et doctrinam, et intelligentiam.
Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 Exultat gaudio pater iusti: qui sapientem genuit, lætabitur in eo.
The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that bring forths a wise child shall have joy of him.
25 Gaudeat pater tuus, et mater tua, et exultet quæ genuit te.
Your father and your mother shall be glad, and she that bare you shall rejoice.
26 Præbe fili mi cor tuum mihi: et oculi tui vias meas custodiant.
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
27 Fovea enim profunda est meretrix: et puteus angustus, aliena.
For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 Insidiatur in via quasi latro, et quos incautos viderit, interficiet.
She also lies in wait as for a prey, and increases the transgressors among men.
29 Cui væ? cuius patri væ? cui rixæ? cui foveæ? cui sine causa vulnera? cui suffusio oculorum?
Who has woe? who has sorrow? who has contentions? who has babbling? who has wounds without cause? who has redness of eyes?
30 Nonne his, qui commorantur in vino, et student calicibus epotandis?
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31 Ne intuearis vinum quando flavescit, cum splenduerit in vitro color eius: ingreditur blande,
Look not you upon the wine when it is red, when it gives his colour in the cup, when it moves itself aright.
32 sed in novissimo mordebit ut coluber, et sicut regulus venena diffundet.
At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder.
33 Oculi tui videbunt extraneas, et cor tuum loquetur perversa.
your eyes shall behold strange women, and your heart shall utter perverse things.
34 Et eris sicut dormiens in medio mari, et quasi sopitus gubernator, amisso clavo:
Yea, you shall be as he that lies down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lies upon the top of a mast.
35 et dices: Verberaverunt me, sed non dolui: traxerunt me, et ego non sensi: quando evigilabo, et rursus vina reperiam?
They have stricken me, shall you say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
