These proverbs were written by David’s son Solomon, that was king of Israel,

Parabolæ Salomonis, filii David, regis Israël,

The parables of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel,

for the better understanding of true wisdom, and self-command.

ad sciendam sapientiam et disciplinam;

To know wisdom, and instruction:

Here is made known the secret of discernment; here men may learn the lesson of insight, the dictates of duty and right and honour.

ad intelligenda verba prudentiæ, et suscipiendam eruditionem doctrinæ, justitiam, et judicium, et æquitatem:

To understand the words of prudence: and to receive the instruction of doctrine, justice, and judgment, and equity:

Here simplicity is put on its guard; here youth may find instruction and advice both together.

ut detur parvulis astutia, adolescenti scientia et intellectus.

To give subtilty to little ones, to the young man knowledge and understanding.

The wise, too, may be the wiser for hearing them; they will aid even the discerning to guide his course aright;

Audiens sapiens, sapientior erit, et intelligens gubernacula possidebit.

A wise man shall hear, and shall be wiser: and he that understandeth, shall possess governments.

he will read both parables and the interpretation of parables, both wise words and the hidden thoughts they signify.

Animadvertet parabolam et interpretationem, verba sapientum et ænigmata eorum.

He shall understand a parable, and the interpretation, the words of the wise, and their mysterious sayings.

True wisdom is founded on the fear of the Lord; who but a fool would despise such wisdom, and the lessons she teaches?

Timor Domini principium sapientiæ; sapientiam atque doctrinam stulti despiciunt.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Heed well, my son, thy father’s warnings, nor make light of thy mother’s teaching;

Audi, fili mi, disciplinam patris tui, et ne dimittas legem matris tuæ:

My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

no richer heirloom, crown or necklace, can be thine.

ut addatur gratia capiti tuo, et torques collo tuo.

That grace may be added to thy head, and a chain of gold to thy neck.

Turn a deaf ear, my son, to the blandishments of evil-doers that would make thee of their company.

Fili mi, si te lactaverint peccatores, ne acquiescas eis.

My son, if sinners shall entice thee, consent not to them.

There are lives to be had for the ambushing, the lives of unsuspecting folk whose uprightness shall little avail them;

Si dixerint: Veni nobiscum, insidiemur sanguini; abscondamus tendiculas contra insontem frustra;

If they shall say: Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us hide snares for the innocent without cause:

there are fortunes to be swallowed up whole, as a man is swallowed up by death when he goes to his grave.

deglutiamus eum sicut infernus viventem, et integrum quasi descendentem in lacum;

Let us swallow him up alive like hell, and whole as one that goeth down into the pit.

No lack of treasures here, they say, rich plunder that shall find its way into our houses;

omnem pretiosam substantiam reperiemus; implebimus domos nostras spoliis:

We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoils.

thou hast but to throw in thy lot with us; every man shares alike.

sortem mitte nobiscum, marsupium unum sit omnium nostrum:

Cast in thy lot with us, let us all have one purse.

Such errands, my son, are not for thee; never stir a foot in their company;

fili mi, ne ambules cum eis; prohibe pedem tuum a semitis eorum:

My son, walk not thou with them, restrain thy foot from their paths.

thou knowest well how eager they are for mischief, how greedy for blood,

pedes enim illorum ad malum currunt, et festinant ut effundant sanguinem.

For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

and the snare is laid to no purpose if the bird is watching.

Frustra autem jacitur rete ante oculos pennatorum.

But a net is spread in vain before the eyes of them that have wings.

What do they, but compass their own ruin, plot against their own lives?

Ipsi quoque contra sanguinem suum insidiantur, et moliuntur fraudes contra animas suas.

And they themselves lie in wait for their own blood, and practise deceits against their own souls.

Such is ever the end of greed; he who cherishes it must fall by it at last.

Sic semitæ omnis avari: animas possidentium rapiunt.

So the ways of every covetous man destroy the souls of the possessors.

And all the while Wisdom is publishing her message, crying it aloud in the open streets;

Sapientia foris prædicat; in plateis dat vocem suam:

Wisdom preacheth abroad, she uttereth her voice in the streets:

never a meeting of roads, never a gateway, but her voice is raised, echoing above the din of it.

in capite turbarum clamitat; in foribus portarum urbis profert verba sua, dicens:

At the head of multitudes she crieth out, in the entrance of the gates of the city she uttereth her words, saying:

What, says she, are you still gaping there, simpletons? Do the reckless still court their own ruin? Rash fools, will you never learn?

Usquequo, parvuli, diligitis infantiam, et stulti ea quæ sibi sunt noxia cupient, et imprudentes odibunt scientiam?

O children, how long will you love childishness, and fools covet those things which are hurtful to themselves, and the unwise hate knowledge?

Pay heed, then, to my protest; listen while I speak out my mind to you, give you open warning.

convertimini ad correptionem meam. En proferam vobis spiritum meum, et ostendam vobis verba mea.

Turn ye at my reproof: behold I will utter my spirit to you, and will shew you my words.

Since my call is unheard, since my hand beckons in vain,

Quia vocavi, et renuistis; extendi manum meam, et non fuit qui aspiceret:

Because I called, and you refused: I stretched out my hand, and there was none that regarded.

since my counsel is despised and all my reproof goes for nothing,

despexistis omne consilium meum, et increpationes meas neglexistis.

You have despised all my counsel, and have neglected my reprehensions.

it will be mine to laugh, to mock at your discomfiture, when perils close about you.

Ego quoque in interitu vestro ridebo, et subsannabo cum vobis id quod timebatis advenerit.

I also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock when that shall come to you which you feared.

Close about you they will, affliction and sore distress, disasters that sweep down suddenly, gathering storms of ruin.

Cum irruerit repentina calamitas, et interitus quasi tempestas ingruerit; quando venerit super vos tribulatio et angustia:

When sudden calamity shall fall on you, and destruction, as a tempest, shall be at hand: when tribulation and distress shall come upon you:

It will be their turn, then, to call aloud; my turn, then, to refuse an answer. They will be early abroad looking for me, but find me never;

tunc invocabunt me, et non exaudiam; mane consurgent, et non invenient me:

Then shall they call upon me, and I will not hear: they shall rise in the morning and shall not find me:

fools, that grew weary of instruction, and would not fear the Lord.

eo quod exosam habuerint disciplinam, et timorem Domini non susceperint,

Because they have hated instruction, and received not the fear of the Lord,

Well for them, if they had followed my counsel, if they had not spurned all the warnings I gave!

nec acquieverint consilio meo, et detraxerint universæ correptioni meæ.

Nor consented to my counsel, but despised all my reproof.

Now they must eat of the harvest their own wickedness has reaped, make the best of the cheer their own knavish schemes have brought them.

Comedent igitur fructus viæ suæ, suisque consiliis saturabuntur.

Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and shall be filled with their own devices.

Ah, silly souls, what a perilous refusal, what fatal foolhardiness was here!

Aversio parvulorum interficiet eos, et prosperitas stultorum perdet illos.

The turning away of little ones shall kill them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

But let a man give heed to me, peace undisturbed shall be his, happiness shall be his, free from all threat of danger.

Qui autem me audierit, absque terrore requiescet, et abundantia perfruetur, timore malorum sublato.

But he that shall hear me, shall rest without terror, and shall enjoy abundance, without fear of evils.