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