The Book of Proverbs — Liber Proverbiorum
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Chapter 2
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| Vulgate> | <Knox Bible> | <Douay-Rheims |
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1 Fili mi, si susceperis sermones meos, et mandata mea absconderis penes te: | 1 Here, then, my son, is counsel for thee; take this bidding of mine to heart; | 1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and wilt hide my commandments with thee, |
2 ut audiat sapientiam auris tua, inclina cor tuum ad cognoscendam prudentiam. | 2 ever be thy ear attentive to wisdom, thy mind eager to attain discernment. | 2 That thy ear may hearken to wisdom: incline thy heart to know prudence: |
3 Si enim sapientiam invocaveris, et inclinaveris cor tuum prudentiæ; | 3 Wisdom if thou wilt call to thy side, and make discernment welcome, | 3 For if thou shalt call for wisdom, and incline thy heart to prudence: |
4 si quæsieris eam quasi pecuniam, et sicut thesauros effoderis illam: | 4 as thou wouldst fain hoard riches, or bring hidden treasure to light, | 4 If thou shalt seek her as money, and shalt dig for her as for a treasure: |
5 tunc intelliges timorem Domini, et scientiam Dei invenies, | 5 then thou wilt learn what it is to fear God, make trial of what it is to know God. | 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and shalt find the knowledge of God. |
6 quia Dominus dat sapientiam, et ex ore ejus prudentia et scientia. | 6 Wisdom is the Lord’s gift; only by his word spoken comes true knowledge, true discernment. | 6 Because the Lord giveth wisdom: and out of his mouth cometh prudence and knowledge. |
7 Custodiet rectorum salutem, et proteget gradientes simpliciter, | 7 So it is that he watches over the lives of the upright, bids the innocent walk unharmed; | 7 He will keep the salvation of the righteous, and protect them that walk in simplicity. |
8 servans semitas justitiæ, et vias sanctorum custodiens. | 8 safe and sound the chosen friends of God come and go. | 8 Keeping the paths of justice, and guarding the ways of saints. |
9 Tunc intelliges justitiam, et judicium, et æquitatem, et omnem semitam bonam. | 9 Duty and right and honour thou shalt discern, and see ever where the best course lies, | 9 Then shalt thou understand justice, and judgment, and equity, and every good path. |
10 Si intraverit sapientia cor tuum, et scientia animæ tuæ placuerit, | 10 if once wisdom finds a lodgement in thy heart, if knowledge once casts her spell upon thee. | 10 If wisdom shall enter into thy heart, and knowledge please thy soul: |
11 consilium custodiet te, et prudentia servabit te: | 11 Watch and ward right counsel shall keep over thee; | 11 Counsel shall keep thee, and prudence shall preserve thee, |
12 ut eruaris a via mala, et ab homine qui perversa loquitur; | 12 it shall save thee from the wrong choice, save thee from the false counsellor. | 12 That thou mayst be delivered from the evil way, and from the man that speaketh perverse things: |
13 qui relinquunt iter rectum, et ambulant per vias tenebrosas; | 13 False counsellors there are, that leave the high road to walk by dark alleys; | 13 Who leave the right way, and walk by dark ways: |
14 qui lætantur cum malefecerint, et exsultant in rebus pessimis; | 14 for sin and shame is all their love and liking; | 14 Who are glad when they have done evil, and rejoice in most wicked things: |
15 quorum viæ perversæ sunt, et infames gressus eorum. | 15 ill guides on a wrong path all of them! | 15 Whose ways are perverse, and their steps infamous. |
16 Ut eruaris a muliere aliena, et ab extranea quæ mollit sermones suos, | 16 And from her, too, right counsel shall protect thee, the woman that is no daughter of Israel, with her mincing foreign ways, | 16 That thou mayst be delivered from the strange women, and from the stranger, who softeneth her words: |
17 et relinquit ducem pubertatis suæ, | 17 that has forsaken the love of her youth, | 17 And forsaketh the guide of her youth, |
18 et pacti Dei sui oblita est. Inclinata est enim ad mortem domus ejus, et ad inferos semitæ ipsius. | 18 forgotten the troth once plighted to her God. The house she dwells in is death’s antechamber, the road by which she beckons leads to the grave; | 18 And hath forgotten the covenant of her God: for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths to hell. |
19 Omnes qui ingrediuntur ad eam non revertentur, nec apprehendent semitas vitæ. | 19 never man went in there that came back and set his face towards life. | 19 None that go in unto her shall return again, neither shall they take hold of the paths of life, |
20 Ut ambules in via bona, et calles justorum custodias: | 20 Thine to choose a nobler course, keeping ever the path of duty; | 20 That thou mayst walk in a good way: and mayst keep the paths of the just. |
21 qui enim recti sunt habitabunt in terra, et simplices permanebunt in ea; | 21 the upright, the innocent, shall have lands of their own and long enjoy them; | 21 For they that are upright shall dwell in the earth, and the simple shall continue in it. |
22 impii vero de terra perdentur, et qui inique agunt auferentur ex ea. | 22 the godless, the wrong-doer will be lost for ever to the scenes they knew. | 22 But the wicked shall be destroyed from the earth: and they that do unjustly shall be taken away from it. |
