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

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

Parabolæ Salomonis, filii David, regis Israël,

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

To know wisdom, and instruction:

ad sciendam sapientiam et disciplinam;

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

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

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

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

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

ut detur parvulis astutia, adolescenti scientia et intellectus.

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

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

Audiens sapiens, sapientior erit, et intelligens gubernacula possidebit.

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

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

Animadvertet parabolam et interpretationem, verba sapientum et ænigmata eorum.

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

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

Timor Domini principium sapientiæ; sapientiam atque doctrinam stulti despiciunt.

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

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

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

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

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

ut addatur gratia capiti tuo, et torques collo tuo.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

omnem pretiosam substantiam reperiemus; implebimus domos nostras spoliis:

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

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

sortem mitte nobiscum, marsupium unum sit omnium nostrum:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Frustra autem jacitur rete ante oculos pennatorum.

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

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

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

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

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

Sic semitæ omnis avari: animas possidentium rapiunt.

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

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

Sapientia foris prædicat; in plateis dat vocem suam:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

despexistis omne consilium meum, et increpationes meas neglexistis.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

nec acquieverint consilio meo, et detraxerint universæ correptioni meæ.

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.

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

Comedent igitur fructus viæ suæ, suisque consiliis saturabuntur.

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

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

Aversio parvulorum interficiet eos, et prosperitas stultorum perdet illos.

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

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

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