Proverbs 23

1When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face:

Quando sederis ut comedas cum principe, diligenter attende quæ apposita sunt ante faciem tuam.

2And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power.

Et statue cultrum in gutture tuo: si tamen habes in potestate animam tuam.

3Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit.

Ne desideres de cibis ejus, in quo est panis mendacii.

4Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.

Noli laborare ut diteris, sed prudentiæ tuæ pone modum.

5Lift not up thy eyes to riches which thou canst not have: because they shall make themselves wings like those of an eagle, and shall fly towards heaven.

Ne erigas oculos tuos ad opes quas non potes habere, quia facient sibi pennas quasi aquilæ, et volabunt in cælum.

6Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:

Ne comedas cum homine invido, et ne desideres cibos ejus:

7Because, like a soothsayer, and diviner, he thinketh that which he knoweth not. Eat and drink, will he say to thee: and his mind is not with thee.

quoniam in similitudinem arioli et conjectoris æstimat quod ignorat. Comede et bibe, dicet tibi; et mens ejus non est tecum.

8The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt loose thy beautiful words.

Cibos quos comederas evomes, et perdes pulchros sermones tuos.

9Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.

In auribus insipientium ne loquaris, qui despicient doctrinam eloquii tui.

10Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not into the field of the fatherless:

Ne attingas parvulorum terminos, et agrum pupillorum ne introëas:

11For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.

propinquus enim illorum fortis est, et ipse judicabit contra te causam illorum.

12Let thy heart apply itself to instruction and thy ears to words of knowledge.

Ingrediatur ad doctrinam cor tuum, et aures tuæ ad verba scientiæ.

13Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die.

Noli subtrahere a puero disciplinam: si enim percusseris eum virga, non morietur.

14Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell.

Tu virga percuties eum, et animam ejus de inferno liberabis.

15My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:

Fili mi, si sapiens fuerit animus tuus, gaudebit tecum cor meum:

16And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right.

et exsultabunt renes mei, cum locuta fuerint rectum labia tua.

17Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long:

Non æmuletur cor tuum peccatores, sed in timore Domini esto tota die:

18Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.

quia habebis spem in novissimo, et præstolatio tua non auferetur.

19Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way.

Audi, fili mi, et esto sapiens, et dirige in via animum tuum.

20Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat:

Noli esse in conviviis potatorum, nec in comessationibus eorum qui carnes ad vescendum conferunt:

21Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together, shall be consumed: and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags.

quia vacantes potibus et dantes symbola consumentur, et vestietur pannis dormitatio.

22Hearken to thy father, that begot thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old.

Audi patrem tuum, qui genuit te, et ne contemnas cum senuerit mater tua.

23Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

Veritatem eme, et noli vendere sapientiam, et doctrinam, et intelligentiam.

24The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him.

Exsultat gaudio pater justi; qui sapientem genuit, lætabitur in eo.

25Let thy father and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.

Gaudeat pater tuus et mater tua, et exsultet quæ genuit te.

26My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.

Præbe, fili mi, cor tuum mihi, et oculi tui vias meas custodiant.

27For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

Fovea enim profunda est meretrix, et puteus angustus aliena.

28She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill.

Insidiatur in via quasi latro, et quos incautos viderit, interficiet.

29Who hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

Cui væ? cujus patri væ? cui rixæ? cui foveæ? cui sine causa vulnera? cui suffusio oculorum?

30Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink off their cups.

nonne his qui commorantur in vino, et student calicibus epotandis?

31Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly,

Ne intuearis vinum quando flavescit, cum splenduerit in vitro color ejus: ingreditur blande,

32But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.

sed in novissimo mordebit ut coluber, et sicut regulus venena diffundet.

33Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.

Oculi tui videbunt extraneas, et cor tuum loquetur perversa.

34And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot fast asleep when the stern is lost.

Et eris sicut dormiens in medio mari, et quasi sopitus gubernator, amisso clavo.

35And thou shalt say: They have beaten me, but I was not sensible of pain: they drew me, and I felt not: when shall I awake and find wine again?

Et dices: Verberaverunt me, sed non dolui; traxerunt me, et ego non sensi. Quando evigilabo, et rursus vina reperiam?