The Book of Proverbs — Liber Proverbiorum
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Chapter 27
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Douay-Rheims><Vulgate><Knox Bible
1
Boast not for to morrow, for thou knowest not what the day to come may bring forth.
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Ne glorieris in crastinum, ignorans quid superventura pariat dies.
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Do not flatter thyself with hopes of to-morrow; what lies in the womb of the future thou canst not tell.
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Let another praise thee, and not thy own mouth: a stranger, and not thy own lips.
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Laudet te alienus, et non os tuum; extraneus, et non labia tua.
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Seek praise, but not of thy own bestowing; another’s lips, not thine, must sound it.
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A stone is heavy, and sand weighty: but the anger of a fool is heavier than them both.
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Grave est saxum, et onerosa arena, sed ira stulti utroque gravior.
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What is more crushing than stone, more burdensome than sand? A fool’s ill humour.
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Anger hath no mercy, nor fury when it breaketh forth: and who can bear the violence of one provoked?
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Ira non habet misericordiam nec erumpens furor, et impetum concitati ferre quis poterit?
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Fierce, fierce is rage, and indignation mounts like a flood, but the pangs of jealousy, these there is no resisting.
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Open rebuke is better than hidden love.
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Melior est manifesta correptio quam amor absconditus.
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Better open reproof than the love that gives no sign.
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Better are the wounds of a friend, than the deceitful kisses of an enemy.
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Meliora sunt vulnera diligentis quam fraudulenta oscula odientis.
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Better the love that scourges, than hate’s false kiss.
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A soul that is full shall tread upon the honeycomb: and a soul that is hungry shall take even bitter for sweet.
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Anima saturata calcabit favum, et anima esuriens etiam amarum pro dulci sumet.
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Full-fed spurns the honeycomb; to Hunger’s lips, bitter is sweet.
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As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that leaveth his place.
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Sicut avis transmigrans de nido suo, sic vir qui derelinquit locum suum.
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When bird leaves nest, let a man leave his home.
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Ointment and perfumes rejoice the heart: and the good counsels of a friend are sweet to the soul.
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Unguento et variis odoribus delectatur cor, et bonis amici consiliis anima dulcoratur.
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Sweeter than ointment, sweeter than any perfume, when man’s heart talks to heart of friend.
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Thy own friend, and thy father’s friend forsake not: and go not into thy brother’s house in the day of thy affliction. Better is a neighbour that is near, than a brother afar off.
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Amicum tuum et amicum patris tui ne dimiseris, et domum fratris tui ne ingrediaris in die afflictionis tuæ. Melior est vicinus juxta quam frater procul.
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Friend of thine, and friend that was thy father’s, never forsake; so, in thy sore need, no kinsman’s door thou shalt need to enter.Neighbour over the way is better than kinsman at a distance.
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Study wisdom, my son, and make my heart joyful, that thou mayst give an answer to him that reproacheth.
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Stude sapientiæ, fili mi, et lætifica cor meum, ut possis exprobranti respondere sermonem.
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My son, wouldst thou be thy father’s pride? Court wisdom, and silence thy detractors.
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The prudent man seeing evil hideth himself: little ones passing on have suffered losses.
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Astutus videns malum, absconditus est: parvuli transeuntes sustinuerunt dispendia.
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When ill times come, prudence is on its guard, and takes refuge; the unwary march on, and pay the penalty.
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Take away his garment that hath been surety for a stranger: and take from him a pledge for strangers.
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Tolle vestimentum ejus qui spopondit pro extraneo, et pro alienis aufer ei pignus.
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Does a man go bail for a stranger? Without more ado, take his garment from him; who trusts without knowledge, forfeits the pledge.
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He that blesseth his neighbour with a loud voice, rising in the night, shall be like to him that curseth.
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Qui benedicit proximo suo voce grandi, de nocte consurgens maledicenti similis erit.
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So early abroad, so loudly wishing thy neighbour well? This is curse, not blessing.
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Roofs dropping through in a cold day, and a contentious woman are alike.
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Tecta perstillantia in die frigoris et litigiosa mulier comparantur.
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Between a scold and a roof that drips in winter there is nothing to choose.
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He that retaineth her, is as he that would hold the wind, and shall call in the oil of his right hand.
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Qui retinet eam quasi qui ventum teneat, et oleum dexteræ suæ vocabit.
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As well store up the wind in thy house, though thou call her the marrow of thy right hand.
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Iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
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Ferrum ferro exacuitur, et homo exacuit faciem amici sui.
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Iron whets iron, friend shapes friend.
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He that keepeth the fig tree, shall eat the fruit thereof: and he that is the keeper of his master, shall be glorified.
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Qui servat ficum comedet fructus ejus, et qui custos est domini sui glorificabitur.
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If figs thou wouldst eat, tend thy fig-tree well; if honour thou wouldst have, wait well on thy master.
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As the faces of them that look therein, shine in the water, so the hearts of men are laid open to the wise.
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Quomodo in aquis resplendent vultus prospicientium, sic corda hominum manifesta sunt prudentibus.
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Clear as a face mirrored in water, the wise see men’s hearts.
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Hell and destruction are never filled: so the eyes of men are never satisfied.
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Infernus et perditio numquam implentur: similiter et oculi hominum insatiabiles.
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Death and the grave were never yet content, nor man’s eyes with gazing.
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As silver is tried in the fining-pot and gold in the furnace: so a man is tried by the mouth of him that praiseth. The heart of the wicked seeketh after evils, but the righteous heart seeketh after knowledge.
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Quomodo probatur in conflatorio argentum et in fornace aurum, sic probatur homo ore laudantis. Cor iniqui inquirit mala, cor autem rectum inquirit scientiam.
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Silver and gold are judged by furnace and crucible, man by his repute. (Heart of knave is ever set on mischief, heart of true man on wisdom.)
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Though thou shouldst bray a fool in the mortar, as when a pestle striketh upon sodden barley, his folly would not be taken from him.
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Si contuderis stultum in pila quasi ptisanas feriente desuper pilo, non auferetur ab eo stultitia ejus.
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Bray a fool like corn, with pestle and mortar, he will be a fool still.
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Be diligent to know the countenance of thy cattle, and consider thy own flocks:
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Diligenter agnosce vultum pecoris tui, tuosque greges considera:
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Spent be thy care, thy eyes watchful, over flock and herd of thine;
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For thou shalt not always have power: but a crown shall be given to generation and generation.
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non enim habebis jugiter potestatem, sed corona tribuetur in generationem et generationem.
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riches will slip from thy grasp, and crowns, will they last for ever?
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The meadows are open, and the green herbs have appeared, and the hay is gathered out of the mountains.
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Aperta sunt prata, et apparuerunt herbæ virentes, et collecta sunt fœna de montibus.
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See, where the meadows are laid bare, and the aftermath is springing, the hay all carried, now, from the hill-slopes!
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Lambs are for thy clothing: and kids for the price of the field.
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Agni ad vestimentum tuum, et hædi ad agri pretium.
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Pasture for the lambs that shall clothe thee, for the goats that shall be the price of more fields yet;
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Let the milk of the goats be enough for thy food, and for the necessities of thy house, and for maintenance for thy handmaids.
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Sufficiat tibi lac caprarum in cibos tuos, et in necessaria domus tuæ, et ad victum ancillis tuis.
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goat’s milk, too, shall suffice to feed thee, give life and strength to thy men and thy serving-maids.