The Book of Proverbs — Liber Proverbiorum
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Chapter 1
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Vulgate><Douay-Rheims><Knox Bible
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Parabolæ Salomonis, filii David, regis Israël,
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The parables of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel,
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These proverbs were written by David’s son Solomon, that was king of Israel,
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ad sciendam sapientiam et disciplinam;
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To know wisdom, and instruction:
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for the better understanding of true wisdom, and self-command.
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ad intelligenda verba prudentiæ, et suscipiendam eruditionem doctrinæ, justitiam, et judicium, et æquitatem:
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To understand the words of prudence: and to receive the instruction of doctrine, justice, and judgment, and equity:
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Here is made known the secret of discernment; here men may learn the lesson of insight, the dictates of duty and right and honour.
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ut detur parvulis astutia, adolescenti scientia et intellectus.
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To give subtilty to little ones, to the young man knowledge and understanding.
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Here simplicity is put on its guard; here youth may find instruction and advice both together.
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Audiens sapiens, sapientior erit, et intelligens gubernacula possidebit.
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A wise man shall hear, and shall be wiser: and he that understandeth, shall possess governments.
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The wise, too, may be the wiser for hearing them; they will aid even the discerning to guide his course aright;
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Animadvertet parabolam et interpretationem, verba sapientum et ænigmata eorum.
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He shall understand a parable, and the interpretation, the words of the wise, and their mysterious sayings.
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he will read both parables and the interpretation of parables, both wise words and the hidden thoughts they signify.
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Timor Domini principium sapientiæ; sapientiam atque doctrinam stulti despiciunt.
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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
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True wisdom is founded on the fear of the Lord; who but a fool would despise such wisdom, and the lessons she teaches?
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Audi, fili mi, disciplinam patris tui, et ne dimittas legem matris tuæ:
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My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
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Heed well, my son, thy father’s warnings, nor make light of thy mother’s teaching;
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ut addatur gratia capiti tuo, et torques collo tuo.
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That grace may be added to thy head, and a chain of gold to thy neck.
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no richer heirloom, crown or necklace, can be thine.
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Fili mi, si te lactaverint peccatores, ne acquiescas eis.
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My son, if sinners shall entice thee, consent not to them.
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Turn a deaf ear, my son, to the blandishments of evil-doers that would make thee of their company.
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Si dixerint: Veni nobiscum, insidiemur sanguini; abscondamus tendiculas contra insontem frustra;
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If they shall say: Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us hide snares for the innocent without cause:
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There are lives to be had for the ambushing, the lives of unsuspecting folk whose uprightness shall little avail them;
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deglutiamus eum sicut infernus viventem, et integrum quasi descendentem in lacum;
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Let us swallow him up alive like hell, and whole as one that goeth down into the pit.
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there are fortunes to be swallowed up whole, as a man is swallowed up by death when he goes to his grave.
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omnem pretiosam substantiam reperiemus; implebimus domos nostras spoliis:
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We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoils.
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No lack of treasures here, they say, rich plunder that shall find its way into our houses;
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sortem mitte nobiscum, marsupium unum sit omnium nostrum:
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Cast in thy lot with us, let us all have one purse.
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thou hast but to throw in thy lot with us; every man shares alike.
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fili mi, ne ambules cum eis; prohibe pedem tuum a semitis eorum:
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My son, walk not thou with them, restrain thy foot from their paths.
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Such errands, my son, are not for thee; never stir a foot in their company;
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pedes enim illorum ad malum currunt, et festinant ut effundant sanguinem.
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For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
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thou knowest well how eager they are for mischief, how greedy for blood,
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Frustra autem jacitur rete ante oculos pennatorum.
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But a net is spread in vain before the eyes of them that have wings.
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and the snare is laid to no purpose if the bird is watching.
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Ipsi quoque contra sanguinem suum insidiantur, et moliuntur fraudes contra animas suas.
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And they themselves lie in wait for their own blood, and practise deceits against their own souls.
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What do they, but compass their own ruin, plot against their own lives?
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Sic semitæ omnis avari: animas possidentium rapiunt.
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So the ways of every covetous man destroy the souls of the possessors.
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Such is ever the end of greed; he who cherishes it must fall by it at last.
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Sapientia foris prædicat; in plateis dat vocem suam:
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Wisdom preacheth abroad, she uttereth her voice in the streets:
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And all the while Wisdom is publishing her message, crying it aloud in the open streets;
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in capite turbarum clamitat; in foribus portarum urbis profert verba sua, dicens:
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At the head of multitudes she crieth out, in the entrance of the gates of the city she uttereth her words, saying:
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never a meeting of roads, never a gateway, but her voice is raised, echoing above the din of it.
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Usquequo, parvuli, diligitis infantiam, et stulti ea quæ sibi sunt noxia cupient, et imprudentes odibunt scientiam?
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O children, how long will you love childishness, and fools covet those things which are hurtful to themselves, and the unwise hate knowledge?
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What, says she, are you still gaping there, simpletons? Do the reckless still court their own ruin? Rash fools, will you never learn?
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convertimini ad correptionem meam. En proferam vobis spiritum meum, et ostendam vobis verba mea.
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Turn ye at my reproof: behold I will utter my spirit to you, and will shew you my words.
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Pay heed, then, to my protest; listen while I speak out my mind to you, give you open warning.
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Quia vocavi, et renuistis; extendi manum meam, et non fuit qui aspiceret:
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Because I called, and you refused: I stretched out my hand, and there was none that regarded.
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Since my call is unheard, since my hand beckons in vain,
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despexistis omne consilium meum, et increpationes meas neglexistis.
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You have despised all my counsel, and have neglected my reprehensions.
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since my counsel is despised and all my reproof goes for nothing,
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Ego quoque in interitu vestro ridebo, et subsannabo cum vobis id quod timebatis advenerit.
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I also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock when that shall come to you which you feared.
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it will be mine to laugh, to mock at your discomfiture, when perils close about you.
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Cum irruerit repentina calamitas, et interitus quasi tempestas ingruerit; quando venerit super vos tribulatio et angustia:
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When sudden calamity shall fall on you, and destruction, as a tempest, shall be at hand: when tribulation and distress shall come upon you:
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Close about you they will, affliction and sore distress, disasters that sweep down suddenly, gathering storms of ruin.
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tunc invocabunt me, et non exaudiam; mane consurgent, et non invenient me:
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Then shall they call upon me, and I will not hear: they shall rise in the morning and shall not find me:
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It will be their turn, then, to call aloud; my turn, then, to refuse an answer. They will be early abroad looking for me, but find me never;
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eo quod exosam habuerint disciplinam, et timorem Domini non susceperint,
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Because they have hated instruction, and received not the fear of the Lord,
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fools, that grew weary of instruction, and would not fear the Lord.
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nec acquieverint consilio meo, et detraxerint universæ correptioni meæ.
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Nor consented to my counsel, but despised all my reproof.
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Well for them, if they had followed my counsel, if they had not spurned all the warnings I gave!
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Comedent igitur fructus viæ suæ, suisque consiliis saturabuntur.
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Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and shall be filled with their own devices.
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Now they must eat of the harvest their own wickedness has reaped, make the best of the cheer their own knavish schemes have brought them.
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Aversio parvulorum interficiet eos, et prosperitas stultorum perdet illos.
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The turning away of little ones shall kill them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
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Ah, silly souls, what a perilous refusal, what fatal foolhardiness was here!
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Qui autem me audierit, absque terrore requiescet, et abundantia perfruetur, timore malorum sublato.
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But he that shall hear me, shall rest without terror, and shall enjoy abundance, without fear of evils.
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But let a man give heed to me, peace undisturbed shall be his, happiness shall be his, free from all threat of danger.