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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Si enim sapientiam invocaveris, et inclinaveris cor tuum prudentiæ;

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

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

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

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

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

tunc intelliges timorem Domini, et scientiam Dei invenies,

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

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

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

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

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

Custodiet rectorum salutem, et proteget gradientes simpliciter,

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

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

servans semitas justitiæ, et vias sanctorum custodiens.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Counsel shall keep thee, and prudence shall preserve thee,

Watch and ward right counsel shall keep over thee;

consilium custodiet te, et prudentia servabit te:

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

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

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

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

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

qui relinquunt iter rectum, et ambulant per vias tenebrosas;

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

for sin and shame is all their love and liking;

qui lætantur cum malefecerint, et exsultant in rebus pessimis;

Whose ways are perverse, and their steps infamous.

ill guides on a wrong path all of them!

quorum viæ perversæ sunt, et infames gressus eorum.

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

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

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

And forsaketh the guide of her youth,

that has forsaken the love of her youth,

et relinquit ducem pubertatis suæ,

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

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;

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ut ambules in via bona, et calles justorum custodias:

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

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

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

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

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

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