Call now if there be any that will answer thee, and turn to some of the saints.

Voca ergo, si est qui tibi respondeat, et ad aliquem sanctorum convertere.

Who will listen to thy plaint against God? Wilt thou turn to one of his angels for redress?

Anger indeed killeth the foolish, and envy slayeth the little one.

Vere stultum interficit iracundia, et parvulum occidit invidia.

Impatience is a great murderer of fools; in their simpleness of heart, they repine at the injury, to their ruin.

I have seen a fool with a strong root, and I cursed his beauty immediately.

Ego vidi stultum firma radice, et maledixi pulchritudini ejus statim.

Never yet did I see a fool secure in his possessions but I prophesied disaster, there and then, for his fair prospects.

His children shall be far from safety, and shall be destroyed in the gate, and there shall be none to deliver them.

Longe fient filii ejus a salute, et conterentur in porta, et non erit qui eruat.

And still would I see his children bereft of hope, ground down by false judgement, and none to bring redress;

Whose harvest the hungry shall eat, and the armed man shall take him by violence, and the thirsty shall drink up his riches.

Cujus messem famelicus comedet, et ipsum rapiet armatus, et bibent sitientes divitias ejus.

his harvest a prey for hungry neighbours, himself for the armed robber, his wealth drunk up by thirsty mouths.

Nothing upon earth is done without a cause, and sorrow doth not spring out of the ground.

Nihil in terra sine causa fit, et de humo non oritur dolor.

Never was ill without a cause; never did mischief spring up self-sown.

Man is born to labour and the bird to fly.

Homo nascitur ad laborem, et avis ad volatum.

Man’s bent is for mischief, as sure as birds will fly.

Wherefore I will pray to the Lord, and address my speech to God:

Quam ob rem ego deprecabor Dominum, et ad Deum ponam eloquium meum:

Wiser counsels for me; to the Lord himself my plaint shall be made, of God himself I will seek audience.

Who doth great things and unsearchable and wonderful things without number:

qui facit magna et inscrutabilia, et mirabilia absque numero;

His magnificent counsels none may fathom, none reckon up his marvellous deeds.

Who giveth rain upon the face of the earth, and watereth all things with waters:

qui dat pluviam super faciem terræ, et irrigat aquis universa;

His to grant the parched earth rain, watering the countryside;

Who setteth up the humble on high, and comforteth with health those that mourn.

qui ponit humiles in sublime, et mœrentes erigit sospitate;

his to exalt men of low esteem, to comfort the mourner with new hope.

Who bringeth to nought the designs of the malignant, so that their hands cannot accomplish what they had begun:

qui dissipat cogitationes malignorum, ne possint implere manus eorum quod cœperant;

Through him the crafty schemer is baulked of his aims;

Who catcheth the wise in their craftiness, and disappointeth the counsel of the wicked:

qui apprehendit sapientes in astutia eorum, et consilium pravorum dissipat.

cunning overreaches itself, and knavish plots are scattered to the winds;

They shall meet with darkness in the day, and grope at noonday as in the night.

Per diem incurrent tenebras, et quasi in nocte, sic palpabunt in meridie.

wise fools, that blink in daylight, and grope their way blindly at full noon!

But he shall save the needy from the sword of their mouth, and the poor from the hand of the violent.

Porro salvum faciet egenum a gladio oris eorum, et de manu violenti pauperem.

So, from their slander and their violence, he rescues the poor and the unbefriended;

And to the needy there shall be hope, but iniquity shall draw in her mouth.

Et erit egeno spes; iniquitas autem contrahet os suum.

now, misery, take heart, let malice stand dumb with confusion!

Blessed is the man whom God correcteth: refuse not therefore the chastising of the Lord:

Beatus homo qui corripitur a Deo: increpationem ergo Domini ne reprobes:

Happy the man, whom God chastens for his faults! The correction he sends thee never, on thy life, refuse.

For he woundeth, and cureth: he striketh, and his hands shall heal.

quia ipse vulnerat, et medetur; percutit, et manus ejus sanabunt.

Wounds he, it is but to heal; the same hand, which smote, shall medicine thee.

In six troubles he shall deliver thee, and in the seventh, evil shall not touch thee.

In sex tribulationibus liberabit te, et in septima non tanget te malum.

So in six perils thou shalt go unharmed, and find yet one deliverance more;

In famine he shall deliver thee from death: and in battle, from the hand of the sword.

In fame eruet te de morte, et in bello de manu gladii.

hunger shall not starve thee, sword wound thee,

Thou shalt be hidden from the scourge of the tongue: and thou shalt not fear calamity when it cometh.

A flagello linguæ absconderis, et non timebis calamitatem cum venerit.

slander find thee out, havoc reach thee;

In destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: and thou shalt not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

In vastitate et fame ridebis, et bestias terræ non formidabis.

rapine and dearth thou shalt defy. And besides all this, ravening beasts shall not daunt thee;

But thou shalt have a covenant with the stones of the lands, and the beasts of the earth shall be at peace with thee.

Sed cum lapidibus regionum pactum tuum, et bestiæ terræ pacificæ erunt tibi.

friendly soil for thee are the desert rocks, and the wild things are in league with thee;

And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle is in peace, and visiting thy beauty thou shalt not sin.

Et scies quod pacem habeat tabernaculum tuum; et visitans speciem tuam, non peccabis.

secure thou shalt keep thy tent, or visit thy fair lands, and nought shall go amiss.

Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be multiplied, and thy offspring like the grass of the earth.

Scies quoque quoniam multiplex erit semen tuum, et progenies tua quasi herba terræ.

Be sure that thy posterity will increase; like the green grass thy race shall flourish;

Thou shalt enter into the grave in abundance, as a heap of wheat is brought in its season.

Ingredieris in abundantia sepulchrum, sicut infertur acervus tritici in tempore suo.

and when go to the grave thou must, it shall be with strength undiminished, like ripe corn at harvest-home.

Behold, this is even so, as we have searched out: which thou having heard, consider it thoroughly in thy mind.

Ecce hoc, ut investigavimus, ita est: quod auditum, mente pertracta.

Here are thoughts tested and found true; well for thee if thou wilt heed them, and ponder them in thy heart.