The Book of Wisdom — Liber Sapientiæ
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Chapter 1
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Douay-Rheims><Vulgate><Knox Bible
1
Love justice, you that are the judges of the earth. Think of the Lord in goodness, and seek him in simplicity of heart.
1
Diligite justitiam, qui judicatis terram. Sentite de Domino in bonitate, et in simplicitate cordis quærite illum:
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Listen, all you who are judges here on earth. Learn to love justice; learn to think high thoughts of what God is, and with sincere hearts aspire to him.
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For he is found by them that tempt him not: and he sheweth himself to them that have faith in him.
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quoniam invenitur ab his qui non tentant illum, apparet autem eis qui fidem habent in illum.
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Trust him thou must, if find him thou wouldst; he does not reveal himself to one that challenges his power.
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For perverse thoughts separate from God: and his power, when it is tried, reproveth the unwise:
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Perversæ enim cogitationes separant a Deo; probata autem virtus corripit insipientes.
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Man’s truant thoughts may keep God at a distance, but when the test of strength comes, folly is shewn in its true colours;
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For wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins.
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Quoniam in malevolam animam non introibit sapientia, nec habitabit in corpore subdito peccatis.
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never yet did wisdom find her way into the schemer’s heart, never yet made her home in a life mortgaged to sin.
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For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from the deceitful, and will withdraw himself from thoughts that are without understanding, and he shall not abide when iniquity cometh in.
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Spiritus enim sanctus disciplinæ effugiet fictum, et auferet se a cogitationibus quæ sunt sine intellectu, et corripietur a superveniente iniquitate.
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A holy thing it is, the spirit that brings instruction; how it shrinks away from the touch of falsehood, holds aloof from every rash design! It is a touchstone, to betray the neighbourhood of wrong-doing.
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For the spirit of wisdom is benevolent, and will not acquit the evil speaker from his lips: for God is witness of his reins, and he is a true searcher of his heart, and a hearer of his tongue.
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Benignus est enim spiritus sapientiæ, et non liberabit maledicum a labiis suis: quoniam renum illius testis est Deus, et cordis illius scrutator est verus, et linguæ ejus auditor.
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A good friend to man is this spirit of wisdom, that convicts the blasphemer of his wild words; God can witness his secret thoughts, can read his heart unerringly, and shall his utterance go unheard?
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For the Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world: and that, which containeth all things, hath knowledge of the voice.
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Quoniam spiritus Domini replevit orbem terrarum, et hoc quod continet omnia, scientiam habet vocis.
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No, the spirit of the Lord fills the whole world; bond that holds all things in being, it takes cognisance of every sound we utter;
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Therefore he that speaketh unjust things cannot be hid, neither shall the chastising judgment pass him by.
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Propter hoc qui loquitur iniqua non potest latere, nec præteriet illum corripiens judicium.
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how should ill speech go unmarked, or the scrutiny of justice pass it by?
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For inquisition shall be made into the thoughts of the ungodly; and the hearing of his words shall come to God, to the chastising of his iniquities.
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In cogitationibus enim impii interrogatio erit; sermonum autem illius auditio ad Deum veniet, ad correptionem iniquitatum illius.
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The hidden counsel of the godless will all come to light; no word of it but reaches the divine hearing, and betrays their wicked design;
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For the ear of jealousy heareth all things, and the tumult of murmuring shall not be hid.
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Quoniam auris zeli audit omnia, et tumultus murmurationum non abscondetur.
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that jealous ear is still listening, and all their busy murmuring shall stand revealed.
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Keep yourselves therefore from murmuring, which profiteth nothing, and refrain your tongue from detraction, for an obscure speech shall not go for nought: and the mouth that belieth, killeth the soul.
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Custodite ergo vos a murmuratione quæ nihil prodest, et a detractione parcite linguæ: quoniam sermo obscurus in vacuum non ibit, os autem quod mentitur occidit animam.
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Beware, then, of whispering, and to ill purpose; ever let your tongues refrain from calumny. Think not that the secret word goes for nought; lying lips were ever the soul’s destroying.
12
Seek not death in the error of your life, neither procure ye destruction by the works of your hands.
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Nolite zelare mortem in errore vitæ vestræ, neque acquiratis perditionem in operibus manuum vestrarum.
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Death for its goal, is not life’s aim missed? Labours he well, that labours to bring doom about his ears?
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For God made not death, neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living.
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Quoniam Deus mortem non fecit, nec lætatur in perditione vivorum.
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Death was never of God’s fashioning; not for his pleasure does life cease to be;
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For he created all things that they might be: and he made the nations of the earth for health: and there is no poison of destruction in them, nor kingdom of hell upon the earth.
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Creavit enim ut essent omnia, et sanabiles fecit nationes orbis terrarum: et non est in illis medicamentum exterminii, nec inferorum regnum in terra.
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what meant his creation, but that all created things should have being? No breed has he created on earth but for its thriving; none carries in itself the seeds of its own destruction. Think not that mortality bears sway on earth;
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For justice is perpetual and immortal.
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Justitia enim perpetua est, et immortalis.
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no end nor term is fixed to a life well lived …
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But the wicked with works and words have called it to them: and esteeming it a friend have fallen away, and have made a covenant with it: because they are worthy to be of the part thereof.
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Impii autem manibus et verbis accersierunt illam, et æstimantes illam amicam, defluxerunt; et sponsiones posuerunt ad illam, quoniam digni sunt qui sint ex parte illius.
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It is the wicked that have brought death on themselves, by word and deed of their own; court death, and melt away in its embrace, keep tryst with it, and lay claim to its partnership.