Do no evils, and no evils shall lay hold of thee.

Harm if thou do none, harm shall none befall thee;

Noli facere mala, et non te apprehendent:

Depart from the unjust, and evils shall depart from thee.

clear of wrong is clear of mishap.

discede ab iniquo, et deficient mala abs te.

My son, sow not evils in the furrows of injustice, and thou shalt not reap them sevenfold.

What avails it, my son, to sow in the furrow of mischief, and reap a sevenfold harvest?

Fili, non semines mala in sulcis injustitiæ, et non metes ea in septuplum.

Seek not of the Lord a pre-eminence, nor of the king the seat of honour.

Never ask of God high station, or of the king preferment.

Noli quærere a Domino ducatum, neque a rege cathedram honoris.

Justify not thyself before God, for he knoweth the heart: and desire not to appear wise before the king.

Never try to prove thy innocence before God, who knows all, nor thy subtlety before the king.

Non te justifices ante Deum, quoniam agnitor cordis ipse est: et penes regem noli velle videri sapiens.

Seek not to be made a judge, unless thou have strength enough to extirpate iniquities: lest thou fear the person of the powerful, and lay a stumblingblock for thy integrity.

Do not sit in judgement, unless thou art able to crush the wrong; if thou favour the rich, what else is thy award but a snare for thy own virtue?

Noli quærere fieri judex, nisi valeas virtute irrumpere iniquitates: ne forte extimescas faciem potentis, et ponas scandalum in æquitate tua.

Offend not against the multitude of a city, neither cast thyself in upon the people,

Hurt never the public weal; no need to embroil thyself with thy own neighbours.

Non pecces in multitudinem civitatis, nec te immittas in populum:

Nor bind sin to sin: for even in one thou shalt not be unpunished.

Never tack sin to sin; for the first thou art in arrears.

neque alliges duplicia peccata, nec enim in uno eris immunis.

Be not fainthearted in thy mind:

Do not lose confidence

Noli esse pusillanimis in animo tuo:

Neglect not to pray, and to give alms.

in thy praying, or leave almsgiving undone.

exorare et facere eleemosynam ne despicias.

Say not: God will have respect to the multitude of my gifts, and when I offer to the most high God, he will accept my offerings.

Do not flatter thyself that God will look favourably on thy many offerings, as if he, the most High, could not refuse thy gifts.

Ne dicas: In multitudine munerum meorum respiciet Deus, et offerente me Deo altissimo, munera mea suscipiet.

Laugh no man to scorn in the bitterness of his soul: for there is one that humbleth and exalteth, God who seeth all.

Taunt never the disconsolate; God, who sees all, casts men down and lifts them up.

Non irrideas hominem in amaritudine animæ: est enim qui humiliat et exaltat circumspector Deus.

Devise not a lie against thy brother: neither do the like against thy friend.

Not against thy own brother trump up the charge; nor thy neighbour either.

Noli amare mendacium adversus fratrem tuum, neque in amicum similiter facias.

Be not willing to make any manner of lie: for the custom thereof is not good.

Every breath of falsehood avoid in thy speech; so ill grows the habit of it.

Noli velle mentiri omne mendacium: assiduitas enim illius non est bona.

Be not full of words in a multitude of ancients, and repeat not the word in thy prayer.

Idle talk becomes thee not, when thou sittest with the elders in council, nor, when thou prayest, repetition of thy prayer.

Noli verbosus esse in multitudine presbyterorum, et non iteres verbum in oratione tua.

Hate not laborious works, nor husbandry ordained by the most High.

At toil repine not; the farmer’s trade is of divine appointment.

Non oderis laboriosa opera, et rusticationem creatam ab Altissimo.

Number not thyself among the multitude of the disorderly.

When sinners abound, be not thou of their company;

Non te reputes in multitudine indisciplinatorum.

Remember wrath, for it will not tarry long.

bethink thee rather, how swiftly comes vengeance,

Memento iræ, quoniam non tardabit.

Humble thy spirit very much: for the vengeance on the flesh of the ungodly is fire and worms.

and so curb thy unruly spirits; for sinful flesh, fire and worm.

Humilia valde spiritum tuum, quoniam vindicta carnis impii ignis et vermis.

Do not transgress against thy friend deferring money, nor despise thy dear brother for the sake of gold.

Thou hast a friend who is over-long in thy debt; use no cruelty with him; dear to thee as a brother, and shall gold count more?

Noli prævaricari in amicum pecuniam differentem, neque fratrem carissimum auro spreveris.

Depart not from a wise and good wife, whom thou hast gotten in the fear of the Lord: for the grace of her modesty is above gold.

Thou hast a good wife, a thrifty woman that has thrown in her lot, in the fear of the Lord, with thine; do not leave her; that modesty of hers is a grace gold cannot buy.

Noli discedere a muliere sensata et bona, quam sortitus es in timore Domini: gratia enim verecundiæ illius super aurum.

Hurt not the servant that worketh faithfully, nor the hired man that giveth thee his life.

The slave that works for thee faithfully, the hireling that is pledged to thy service, injure not;

Non lædas servum in veritate operantem, neque mercenarium dantem animam suam.

Let a wise servant be dear to thee as thy own soul, defraud him not of liberty, nor leave him needy.

a thrifty slave thou shouldst love as thy own self, not baulking him of liberty or leaving him to starve.

Servus sensatus sit tibi dilectus quasi anima tua: non defraudes illum libertate, neque inopem derelinquas illum.

Hast thou cattle? have an eye to them: and if they be for thy profit, keep them with thee.

Cattle thou hast; tend them well, nor part with them while they do thee good service.

Pecora tibi sunt, attende illis: et si sunt utilia, perseverent apud te.

Hast thou children? instruct them, and bow down their neck from their childhood.

Thou hast sons; train them to bear the yoke from their youth up.

Filii tibi sunt? erudi illos, et curva illos a pueritia illorum.

Hast thou daughters? have a care of their body, and shew not thy countenance gay towards them.

Thou hast daughters; keep them chaste, and do not spoil them with thy smile;

Filiæ tibi sunt? serva corpus illarum, et non ostendas hilarem faciem tuam ad illas.

Marry thy daughter well, and thou shalt do a great work, and give her to a wise man.

a daughter wed is great good done, if a thrifty husband thou find her.

Trade filiam, et grande opus feceris: et homini sensato da illam.

If thou hast a wife according to thy soul, cast her not off: and to her that is hateful, trust not thyself. With thy whole heart,

And thy own wife, if thou lovest her, never do thou forsake, nor trust thy happiness to one who is little to thy mind. And oh, with thy whole heart

Mulier si est tibi secundum animam tuam, non projicias illam: et odibili non credas te. In toto corde tuo

Honour thy father, and forget not the groanings of thy mother:

honour thy father, nor forget thy mother’s pangs;

honora patrem tuum, et gemitus matris tuæ ne obliviscaris:

Remember that thou hadst not been born but through them: and make a return to them as they have done for thee.

bethink thee, that without them thou hadst had no being, and repay the service they have done thee.

memento quoniam nisi per illos natus non fuisses: et retribue illis, quomodo et illi tibi.

With all thy soul fear the Lord, and reverence his priests.

With all thy soul fear God, and reverence his priests.

In tota anima tua time Dominum, et sacerdotes illius sanctifica.

With all thy strength love him that made thee: and forsake not his ministers.

He made thee; wilt thou not devote all thy powers to his love? Wilt thou leave his ministers unbefriended?

In omni virtute tua dilige eum qui te fecit, et ministros ejus ne derelinquas.

Honour God with all thy soul, and give honour to the priests, and purify thyself with thy arms.

Rather, with all thy soul fear God, and to his priests give their due; with gift of the consecrated shoulder clear thyself of what is owing.

Honora Deum ex tota anima tua, et honorifica sacerdotes, et propurga te cum brachiis.

Give them their portion, as it is commanded thee, of the firstfruits and of purifications: and for thy negligences purify thyself with a few.

The priests must have their share, by law prescribed, of first-fruits and of offering for transgression; even if thou hast committed a fault in ignorance, a little is claimed for thy cleansing.

Da illis partem, sicut mandatum est tibi, primitiarum et purgationis, et de negligentia tua purga te cum paucis.

Offer to the Lord the gift of thy shoulders, and the sacrifice of sanctification, and the firstfruits of the holy things:

The gift of the consecrated shoulder thou must make to the Lord, and the offering of all that is dedicated, and the holy first-fruits;

Datum brachiorum tuorum, et sacrificium sanctificationis offeres Domino, et initia sanctorum.

And stretch out thy hand to the poor, that thy expiation and thy blessing may be perfected.

moreover, thou must open thy hand to the poor; so thy atonement shall be perfect, and perfect thy blessing.

Et pauperi porrige manum tuam, ut perficiatur propitiatio et benedictio tua.

A gift hath grace in the sight of all the living, and restrain not grace from the dead.

No living man but is thankful for the gift given; and it is ill done to withhold thy favours even from the dead.

Gratia dati in conspectu omnis viventis, et mortuo non prohibeas gratiam.

Be not wanting in comforting them that weep, and walk with them that mourn.

Fail not to comfort the distressed, let the mourner have thee for his escort.

Non desis plorantibus in consolatione, et cum lugentibus ambula.

Be not slow to visit the sick: for by these things thou shalt be confirmed in love.

Never tire of visiting the sick; no surer way of winning thy neighbour’s love.

Non te pigeat visitare infirmum: ex his enim in dilectione firmaberis.

In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin.

Remember at all times what thou must come to at the last, and thou shalt never do amiss.

In omnibus operibus tuis memorare novissima tua, et in æternum non peccabis.