My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and wilt hide my commandments with thee,

Fili mi, si susceperis sermones meos, et mandata mea absconderis penes te:

Here, then, my son, is counsel for thee; take this bidding of mine to heart;

That thy ear may hearken to wisdom: incline thy heart to know prudence:

ut audiat sapientiam auris tua, inclina cor tuum ad cognoscendam prudentiam.

ever be thy ear attentive to wisdom, thy mind eager to attain discernment.

For if thou shalt call for wisdom, and incline thy heart to prudence:

Si enim sapientiam invocaveris, et inclinaveris cor tuum prudentiæ;

Wisdom if thou wilt call to thy side, and make discernment welcome,

If thou shalt seek her as money, and shalt dig for her as for a treasure:

si quæsieris eam quasi pecuniam, et sicut thesauros effoderis illam:

as thou wouldst fain hoard riches, or bring hidden treasure to light,

Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and shalt find the knowledge of God.

tunc intelliges timorem Domini, et scientiam Dei invenies,

then thou wilt learn what it is to fear God, make trial of what it is to know God.

Because the Lord giveth wisdom: and out of his mouth cometh prudence and knowledge.

quia Dominus dat sapientiam, et ex ore ejus prudentia et scientia.

Wisdom is the Lord’s gift; only by his word spoken comes true knowledge, true discernment.

He will keep the salvation of the righteous, and protect them that walk in simplicity.

Custodiet rectorum salutem, et proteget gradientes simpliciter,

So it is that he watches over the lives of the upright, bids the innocent walk unharmed;

Keeping the paths of justice, and guarding the ways of saints.

servans semitas justitiæ, et vias sanctorum custodiens.

safe and sound the chosen friends of God come and go.

Then shalt thou understand justice, and judgment, and equity, and every good path.

Tunc intelliges justitiam, et judicium, et æquitatem, et omnem semitam bonam.

Duty and right and honour thou shalt discern, and see ever where the best course lies,

If wisdom shall enter into thy heart, and knowledge please thy soul:

Si intraverit sapientia cor tuum, et scientia animæ tuæ placuerit,

if once wisdom finds a lodgement in thy heart, if knowledge once casts her spell upon thee.

Counsel shall keep thee, and prudence shall preserve thee,

consilium custodiet te, et prudentia servabit te:

Watch and ward right counsel shall keep over thee;

That thou mayst be delivered from the evil way, and from the man that speaketh perverse things:

ut eruaris a via mala, et ab homine qui perversa loquitur;

it shall save thee from the wrong choice, save thee from the false counsellor.

Who leave the right way, and walk by dark ways:

qui relinquunt iter rectum, et ambulant per vias tenebrosas;

False counsellors there are, that leave the high road to walk by dark alleys;

Who are glad when they have done evil, and rejoice in most wicked things:

qui lætantur cum malefecerint, et exsultant in rebus pessimis;

for sin and shame is all their love and liking;

Whose ways are perverse, and their steps infamous.

quorum viæ perversæ sunt, et infames gressus eorum.

ill guides on a wrong path all of them!

That thou mayst be delivered from the strange women, and from the stranger, who softeneth her words:

Ut eruaris a muliere aliena, et ab extranea quæ mollit sermones suos,

And from her, too, right counsel shall protect thee, the woman that is no daughter of Israel, with her mincing foreign ways,

And forsaketh the guide of her youth,

et relinquit ducem pubertatis suæ,

that has forsaken the love of her youth,

And hath forgotten the covenant of her God: for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths to hell.

et pacti Dei sui oblita est. Inclinata est enim ad mortem domus ejus, et ad inferos semitæ ipsius.

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;

None that go in unto her shall return again, neither shall they take hold of the paths of life,

Omnes qui ingrediuntur ad eam non revertentur, nec apprehendent semitas vitæ.

never man went in there that came back and set his face towards life.

That thou mayst walk in a good way: and mayst keep the paths of the just.

Ut ambules in via bona, et calles justorum custodias:

Thine to choose a nobler course, keeping ever the path of duty;

For they that are upright shall dwell in the earth, and the simple shall continue in it.

qui enim recti sunt habitabunt in terra, et simplices permanebunt in ea;

the upright, the innocent, shall have lands of their own and long enjoy them;

But the wicked shall be destroyed from the earth: and they that do unjustly shall be taken away from it.

impii vero de terra perdentur, et qui inique agunt auferentur ex ea.

the godless, the wrong-doer will be lost for ever to the scenes they knew.