Blessed is the man that hath not slipped by a word out of his mouth, and is not pricked with the remorse of sin.

Beatus vir qui non est lapsus verbo ex ore suo, et non est stimulatus in tristitia delicti.

Blessed the man whose lips have never betrayed him into a fault, who has never known the sting of remorse,

Happy is he that hath had no sadness of his mind, and who is not fallen from his hope.

Felix qui non habuit animi sui tristitiam, et non excidit a spe sua.

never felt conscience condemning him, and the hope he lived by, his no more!

Riches are not comely for a covetous man and a niggard, and what should an envious man do with gold?

Viro cupido et tenaci sine ratione est substantia: et homini livido ad quid aurum?

Vain is that store the miser cherishes; wasted on his distrustful nature, the bright gold!

He that gathereth together by wronging his own soul, gathereth for others, and another will squander away his goods in rioting.

Qui acervat ex animo suo injuste, aliis congregat, et in bonis illius alius luxuriabitur.

See how he wrongs himself to hoard up goods for others; to let his heirs keep high revel when he is gone!

He that is evil to himself, to whom will he be good? and he shall not take pleasure in his goods.

Qui sibi nequam est, cui alii bonus erit? et non jucundabitur in bonis suis.

Whose friend is he, that is his own enemy, and leaves his own cheer untasted?

There is none worse than he that envieth himself, and this is the reward of his wickedness:

Qui sibi invidet, nihil est illo nequius: et hæc redditio est malitiæ illius.

This is the last villainy of all, that a man should grudge himself his own happiness;

And if he do good, he doth it ignorantly, and unwillingly: and at the last he discovereth his wickedness.

Et si bene fecerit, ignoranter et non volens facit: et in novissimo manifestat malitiam suam.

fit punishment for his poverty of soul that never did good except by oversight, and to his manifest remorse!

The eye of the envious is wicked: and he turneth away his face, and despiseth his own soul.

Nequam est oculus lividi: et avertens faciem suam, et despiciens animam suam.

Diseased eye of the niggard, that will turn away and let hunger go unsatisfied;

The eye of the covetous man is insatiable in his portion of iniquity: he will not be satisfied till he consume his own soul, drying it up.

Insatiabilis oculus cupidi in parte iniquitatis: non satiabitur donec consumat arefaciens animam suam.

and restless eye of the covetous man, that craves ever more than his due, till his very nature dries up from continual pining;

An evil eye is towards evil things: and he shall not have his fill of bread, but shall be needy and pensive at his own table.

Oculus malus ad mala, et non saturabitur pane, sed indigens et in tristitia erit super mensam suam.

an eye jaundiced with its own passions, and never a full meal, but always he must sit hungry and pensive at his own table, and ill content!

My son, if thou have any thing, do good to thyself, and offer to God worthy offerings.

Fili, si habes, benefac tecum, et Deo dignas oblationes offer.

My son, if wealth thou hast, regale thyself, and make thy offering to God proportionable.

Remember that death is not slow, and that the covenant of hell hath been shewn to thee: for the covenant of this world shall surely die.

Memor esto quoniam mors non tardat, et testamentum inferorum, quia demonstratum est tibi: testamentum enim hujus mundi morte morietur.

Bethink thee that death waits not; there is no putting off thy tryst with the grave; nothing in this world, but its death-warrant is out already.

Do good to thy friend before thou die, and according to thy ability, stretching out thy hand give to the poor.

Ante mortem benefac amico tuo, et secundum vires tuas exporrigens da pauperi.

While life still holds, make thy friends good cheer, and to the poor be open-handed as thy means allow thee;

Defraud not thyself of the good day, and let not the part of a good gift overpass thee.

Non defrauderis a die bono, et particula boni doni non te prætereat.

stint not the feast, nor any crumb put by of the blessings granted thee;

Shalt thou not leave to others to divide by lot thy sorrows and labours?

Nonne aliis relinques dolores et labores tuos in divisione sortis?

wouldst thou have thy heirs wrangling over the fruits of thy bitter toil?

Give and take, and justify thy soul.

Da et accipe, et justifica animam tuam.

Much give, much take, set thy soul at ease;

Before thy death work justice: for in hell there is no finding food.

Ante obitum tuum operare justitiam, quoniam non est apud inferos invenire cibum.

while life still holds, do thy duty of almsgiving; feasting there shall be none in the grave.

All flesh shall fade as grass, and as the leaf that springeth out on a green tree.

Omnis caro sicut fœnum veterascet, et sicut folium fructificans in arbore viridi.

No living thing but fades as the grass fades; as the leaves fade, that burgeon on a growing tree,

Some grow, and some fall off: so is the generation of flesh and blood, one cometh to an end, and another is born.

Alia generantur, et alia dejiciuntur: sic generatio carnis et sanguinis, alia finitur, et alia nascitur.

some sprouting fresh and some a-dying; so it is with flesh and blood, one generation makes room for the next.

Every work that is corruptible shall fail in the end: and the worker thereof shall go with it.

Omne opus corruptibile in fine deficiet, et qui illud operatur ibit cum illo.

All the works of man are fugitive, and must perish soon or late, and he, the workman, goes the same way as the rest.

And every excellent work shall be justified: and the worker thereof shall be honoured therein.

Et omne opus electum justificabitur, et qui operatur illud honorabitur in illo.

Yet shall their choicest works win favour, and in his work he, the workman, shall live.

Blessed is the man that shall continue in wisdom, and that shall meditate in his justice, and in his mind shall think of the all seeing eye of God.

Beatus vir qui in sapientia morabitur, et qui in justitia sua meditabitur, et in sensu cogitabit circumspectionem Dei:

Blessed the man that dwells on wise thoughts, musing how to acquit himself well, and remembering the all-seeing eye of God;

He that considereth her ways in his heart, and hath understanding in her secrets, who goeth after her as one that traceth, and stayeth in her ways.

qui excogitat vias illius in corde suo, et in absconditis suis intelligens, vadens post illam quasi investigator, et in viis illius consistens:

that can plan out in his heart all wisdom’s twists and turns, fathom her secrets! Like a spy he follows her, and lingers in her tracks,

He who looketh in at her windows, and hearkeneth at her door:

qui respicit per fenestras illius, et in januis illius audiens:

peers through her window, listens at her doors,

He that lodgeth near her house, and fastening a pin in her walls shall set up his tent high unto her, where good things shall rest in his lodging for ever.

qui requiescit juxta domum illius, et in parietibus illius figens palum, statuet casulam suam ad manus illius, et requiescent in casula illius bona per ævum.

by her house takes up his abode, driving his nail into the walls of it, so as to build his cabin at her very side, cabin that shall remain for ever a home of blessing!

He shall set his children under her shelter, and shall lodge under her branches:

Statuet filios suos sub tegmine illius, et sub ramis ejus morabitur.

Wisdom shall be the shade under which his children find their appointed resting-place; her spreading boughs

He shall be protected under her covering from the heat, and shall rest in her glory.

Protegetur sub tegmine illius a fervore, et in gloria ejus requiescet.

shall protect them from the noon-day heat; wisdom shall be the monument of his glorious repose.